Six Degrees of Separation
by SilversGrey
Summary: Lexie tried to keep some distance between her and Thatcher Grey, unfortunately things never go to plan for Lexie, and it’s beginning to take a toll on her relationship with Mark. Includes, Mer/Der and Meredith/Lexie with Mark/Derek.
1. Chapter 1

**Daddy Issues**

**Chapter 1**

"Lexie I need to talk to you" Alex insisted as he made his way over to the nurses station.

"Go away Alex" Lexie growled, not taking her eyes off of the chart that was lying in front of her. Lexie really needed to get up to scratch with the patient's case if she was going to assist Derek with his surgery.

"Fine" Alex exclaimed throwing his arms up in the air, "thought you'd wanna know that your old man was just admitted into the hospital…but if you don't…"

"Woah, wait a minute…what do you mean admitted, admitted here…into Seattle Grace, why?" Lexie asked as she made her way over to Alex in quick strides.

"Relax Lexipedia; it's just a bump on the head…"

"Then how…why, what" Lexie started rambling on and Alex really wasn't in the mood for all of this emotional crap. Alex had come to realise that if he had any chance of helping Izzie through the cancer than he needed to concentrate on one emotional breakdown at a time, so really Alex tried to narrow them down to one a day and that _one _being Izzie's.

"Grey!" Alex called out to get her attention, "the old man lost control of his car and hit a tree…no big deal"

Lexie shook her head in disbelief, "no Alex, a normal person doesn't just lose control over their car on a perfectly fine day…he was drunk, that's why he had an accident". Lexie couldn't believe it and she wasn't really in the mood for it either, she had enough drama going on in her life. So Lexie did the only thing she could think of doing right now and just walked away.

"Hey where are you going?" Alex yelled out to Lexie's retreating back.

"I've got a surgery to prepare for" Lexie yelled out while still walking down the hallway. All of the sudden Lexie could feel being pulled away in the opposite direction as Alex grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her into the nearest on-call room. Once the two of them were closed off from the rest of the hospital Lexie stood there with her arms crossed over her chest with an exasperated look on her face.

"Look, I know that taking care of a drunk is the last thing you wanna be dong right now. Trust me I know, but isn't it bad enough that you're already known as Little Grey…the intern sleeping with the attending, the reason that Shepherd and Sloan nearly killed each other a few weeks ago…do you really want to add daughter of a drunk on the gossip list".

"What do you want from me Alex" Lexie demanded while trying to push him away from the door.

Alex wouldn't budge, "the Chief made sure that nobody else except for me and Dr. Bailey know that Thatcher was brought in and it's gonna stay that away. But if you want any chance of making sure that daddy's little secret stay's a secret then you need to get him out of here before one of those annoying interns comes across his chart and reads all the dirt".

Lexie shook her head violently in protest, "no way…are you insane, I have a surgery with Dr. Shepherd in less than an hour. He already hates me, as far as his concerned I'm the reason he lost his best friend. I'm skating on thin ice where Derek Shepherd is concerned…what do you think he's going to do to me if I blow off his surgery?"

"Fine you want everybody around here knowing all you dirty laundry go right a head, I mean it's not like most of it isn't out there already right?" Alex retorted, knowing that it was a cruel blow but it needed to be done. Alex had been there before; he knew what it was like. Once people found out that your old man was a complete drunk all of the sudden you're at the bottom of the food chain and everybody else thinks that they're better than you.

"Wait" Lexie called out as she grabbed Alex's arm to stop him from leaving the room, "can you…Dr. Shepherd's surgery is in O.R. 3, he's performing a craniotomy, think you can…" Lexie tried to say but couldn't seem to get the words out. She knew that Derek would have her head on a platter the minute he saw Karev standing in his O.R….just another reason for Derek to hate her.

"I'll cover for you with Shepherd, you deal with the drunk bastard" Alex spat out with a scorn on his face, people thought that they could peg Alex just by taking one look at him…but they were wrong. Alex wasn't really the cold hearted narcissistic surgeon that they all thought he was…Alex was a product of his environment, he had learnt early on with a drunk for a father and a basket case for a mother that you don't reveal your weaknesses…no matter what.

Lexie silently nodded her head and made her way out the door and down the corridor in search of her father; _this is going to be so much fun_ Lexie sarcastically told herself. Lately Lexie found herself more and more dreading going over to her father's house because it was like visiting someone with a split personality disorder…she never knew who she was going to get. Was it going to be the barely lucid yet happy drunk, or the violent drunk who consistently mistook Lexie for Ellis Grey? Lexie hated all of this and what she hated more than anything else was that she had to deal with all of this on her own, Meredith felt as if she didn't owe the man anything because he walked out on her and Molly was too happy and content with her life to even acknowledge the reality that was there father. So instead Lexie was forced to deal with all the craziness that came along with being the daughter of Thatcher Grey by herself. Even Mark was clueless as to how bad things had gotten, but for the most part that was Lexie's fault. Lexie was terrified that if she told Mark the truth he'd realise how truly screwed up her family was and decide that she wasn't worth the trouble.

Lexie was quickly brought back to the reality that was her life by the Chief who was now standing right in front of her, "Dr. Grey I assume that Dr. Karev got you up to speed on the situation?"

"Yes Sir" Lexie whispered while trying to avoid all eye contact, all of the sudden Lexie felt like she was 15 again and had just been called into the Principal's office.

***********************

"Dad" Lexie whispered as she quietly made her way over to the bed, not wanting to wake Thatcher up if it could be avoided. As Lexie stood there and took in the appearance of her father she couldn't help but wonder how it all came to this, how the hell did her life get so screwed up? How did her life become define by a liquor bottle? Lexie took note of the stitches just above his left eye and the swollenness of his left cheek as she watched him sleep.

Lexie was quickly brought out of her own thoughts as she could hear the sound of someone clearing there throat, and as she turned she was greeted by Dr. Bailey. "X-ray's just came back and they show that there's no visible signs of a fracture to the cheekbone…so he's all good to go, I'll just write up the discharge papers and you can take him home".

Lexie silently nodded her head without really taking in anything that Miranda had just said. Taking her father home at this very moment wasn't the most appealing thing because that meant waking him up and after the past two weeks she had been dealing with….well dealing with an uncooperative drunk would be icing on the cake so to speak. Lexie took a step closer to her father's bedside and just as she was about to softly nudge him in the hopes of waking him up Lexie could hear him murmur in his sleep. At first Lexie couldn't really make it out but as she got closer to her farther the sound became far more audible and in that split second she heard her father cry out rather loud and clear "Meredith?"

_Reviews welcomes, just couldn't seem to get this idea out of my head but it didn't really fit in with my other story…so I'm giving this one a shot and I'll see where it goes. Let me know what you think, tbc :D_


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Lexie would be lying if she said that having heard her father calling out for Meredith didn't hurt, but it had become a part of her reality. More and more lately it was as though for Thatcher Grey Lexie didn't even exist, to him she was either Ellis or Meredith Grey…there was no in between.

"Meredith" Thatcher cried out again rather groggily from the pain meds that Bailey had given him for the swelling, but then again a combination of meds and alcohol usually don't help.

"No dad it's me…Lexie" Lexie softly answered so as not to wake him, as much as Lexie wanted to hate the man lying before her she just couldn't seem to find it in her, she couldn't seem to separate the man in front of her from the man she once knew. Somehow Lexie had managed to convince herself that it was a process of grieving, that Thatcher just needed time to get a hold of Suzan's death and that once he had Lexie would have the old Thatcher Grey back. But lately as time went on Lexie was finding it harder and harder to hold onto that hope, to believe that the old Thatcher Grey would come back to her and Molly.

Miranda quietly snuck inside the hospital room, not wanting to disturb the young intern and her father. Miranda had always had a happy childhood growing up; she could still picture the look of pride that was etched onto her father's face when she told him that she had been accepted into Harvard Med. Miranda had never had to deal with a parent's addiction or a parent's disappointment of their choices in life…and the fact that Lexie was still able to function on a daily basis as one of the most promising interns only seemed to feed the growing respect Miranda had for Lexie. "Er Dr. Grey…your father's free to go" Miranda explained to Lexie as she took a few steps forward.

"Meredith" Thatcher cried out again, and Lexie quietly shook her head in disappointment, she could slowly feel the sense of frustration and hurt growing inside of her.

Miranda walked around to the other side of the bed so that she could get a better look at the intern. It was at that moment that Miranda finally saw the real toll that an alcoholic father was having on Lexie. "Would you like me to page Meredith?" Miranda whispered.

Lexie shook her head as she managed to pry her eyes away from her father and look at Miranda for the first time that evening. "He thinks I'm Meredith, I'm always Meredith…or Ellis. Sometimes I think he doesn't even know that he has a daughter named Lexie or care for that matter" Lexie explained as she looked down at her father again. "Whenever I go to check on him at home his drunk and I either become the ungrateful bitch who cheated on him with Richard Webber or the ungrateful daughter who blames him for everything wrong in her life…the daughter who killed his wife".

Miranda looked back and forth from the broken man lying in front of her and the daughter who was struggling to figure out what to do. "You know I haven't had my afternoon caffeine kick, and I get nasty without my caffeine…why don't you join me".

Lexie gave Miranda a forced smile, "I should really get him home before he becomes more lucid and causes a scene".

Miranda waved off the intern's suggestion as she made her way over and placed an arm around Lexie's shoulder as she directed her towards the door. "Dr. Karev had to give him a sedative because he wasn't the most co-operative patient, so he'll be out like a light. Besides Dr. Hunt can keep an eye on him, you need a coffee…and someone to talk to".

Lexie let out a sigh of defeat because she knew that there really was no point arguing with Miranda Bailey, once Miranda got an idea into her head she was like a dog with a bone. "Ok" Lexie whispered as her legs lead her towards a coffee cart outside the hospital walls without so much as even thinking about it.

*******************

"Dr. Shepherd" Alex greeted Derek with a nod of his head as he entered the scrub room to prep for surgery.

Derek was too busy running through the procedure in his head for the millionth time to realise that Alex was scrubbing in. The two continued to carry on with in complete silence, Derek was consumed with reassuring himself that he wasn't going to screw this up, while Alex was too busy worrying about Izzie…and reluctantly Lexie.

As Alex finished rinsing off and reached out for a surgical mask it was at that moment that Derek finally took notice of what Alex was doing. "Karev what do you think you're doing?" Derek asked with a sceptical look on his face.

"Scrubbing in for your surgery" Alex responded in a matter of fact tone.

Derek shook his head, "no you're not, you're not my intern…Lexie is my intern and Yang assigned her to _me_…"

"Something came up" Alex jumped in to defend Lexie's absence.

"_Something came up_" Derek repeated slowly with a condescending look on his face. "Look Karev you go find Grey and tell her that if she's not inside this O.R. in less then five minutes she can forget about ever scrubbing in on one of my surgeries" Derek spat as he headed towards the door which would grant him entry into the O.R. No sooner had Derek walked through the door he came back out again looking at Alex who was just standing there. "You can also tell her that just because she's sleeping with an Attending doesn't mean she gets to make up her own rules around here. She plays by the same rules as everyone else; Dr. Yang assigned her to my services so that means she does what I tell her to do…she doesn't get to pick and choose which surgery's she gets in on. So get her in here _now!_"

"Look" Alex exclaimed just as a scrub nurse entered the room, both surgeons went completely silently as the scrub nurse continued to wash her hands. Alex was beginning to grow impatient both with Shepherd and the nurse, "could you go any slower?" Alex asked the nurse with a scowl on his face.

The scrub nurse shook her head in disbelief as she dried her hands and made her way inside the O.R. leaving Derek and Alex to themselves. "Her old man showed up…more like was admitted after he got into an accident, the Chief wanted Lexie to get him out of here before any of the nurses or interns figured it out" Alex explained as he gave Derek a sarcastic look. "And I thought that you'd want the bastard out of here before those tatter-tot interns figure out that the Grey sister's have a drunk for a father and make it number one on the gossip list".

Derek shook his head in disbelief, he didn't know what was happening to him but what he did know for certain was that this wasn't him. He was the kind of guy who asked questions before acting first, but instead he went straight for the option of jumping down Karev's throat rather than finding out _why _Lexie wasn't here. But more importantly the part that was know nagging him the most was the fact that he automatically placed the blame on Mark, Derek had a problem and he pointed the blame directly in Mark's direction without so much as hesitating. Derek hated this, he hated all of this…but more importantly he hated that Meredith and Lexie had to deal with a problem as big a Thatcher's drinking, and he hated the fact that he and Mark couldn't work together to find a way to help them. "Is he alright?" Derek asked feigning concern for the man, while he may disapprove of the choices that Thatcher Grey was making at the end of the day the man was still his fiancé's father.

"If you ask me the poor tree's the victim in all of this" Alex responded, clearly making no attempt to show any sympathy for Thatcher Grey.

Derek shook his head as he tried to hide a smile behind his surgical mask, "does Meredith know?" Derek asked going all serious on Alex.

Alex began walking towards the O.R. and shrugged his shoulders, "the Chief only told me to page Lexipedia he didn't say anything about Meredith…besides I thought she and the old man were on the out".

"Does Mark know?" Derek asked with a hint of concern in his voice because he was really starting to get concerned about Lexie. If Meredith hadn't been paged then Lexie couldn't honestly expect to handle Thatcher on her own. And despite the fact that he wasn't talking to Mark at the moment Derek knew that Mark would have wanted to know, because if it was Meredith he'd want to know.

"No" Alex shook his head immediately, "she told me not to tell him…I wasn't even supposed to tell _you_, I was supposed to make something up but then you went all charging like a bat out of hell on me". Alex didn't even wait for Derek's response as he walked straight passed him and entered into the O.R. were their patient was waiting for them.

Derek silently shook his head in disbelief and then followed Alex into the O.R., making a mental note to talk to Lexie later…possibly even Mark.

*************

Lexie closed her eyes as she sat down on an empty bench and basked in the warmth of the sun shining down on her face, ever since she was a little girl she loved to be out side. The cool air, the warm sun, the wide open spaces, they were all things that Lexie loved about being outdoors because it wasn't so constricting. Lexie couldn't help but let out a little smirk at the thought of how she had lately become more partial to a certain hotel room…and particularly to the night.

"It must be difficult" Miranda commented as she sat down next to Lexie and offered her the second cup of coffee she was holding.

Lexie jumped at the sound of Miranda's voice before silently nodding her head as she took the cup from Miranda, removing the lid Lexie blew into the cup so as to cool it off before taking a sip of the dark liquid. The two remained in complete silence as they continued to sit outside of the hospital walls, Miranda began to fiddle with her cup. She could see that Lexie needed to talk to someone, and she had a hunch that while things may have been going well with Mark he was still in the dark about Thatcher, Miranda knew that there were something's you just couldn't talk to your partner about. "You don't have to talk if you don't want to, but you know If I was you…and after the past few weeks you've had…well personally I'd be tired of all the no talking…" Miranda started to say but was cut off by the soft whisper of Lexie's voice.

"Today's a good day".

Lexie had uttered the words so softly that Miranda had to literally lean in closer towards Lexie, Lexie didn't need to be looking straight at Miranda to see what she had done out of the corner of her eye. "Today's a good day" Lexie declared slightly louder than the first time but not too loud so that others could hear.

"I'm guessing that there haven't been many of those lately" Miranda commented as she continued to look straight ahead while taking a sip from her coffee.

"When I'm with Mark its good…it's all good, I can forget. I can forget that my mother died from the hiccups, I can forget that my sister Molly expects me to put our father back together, I can forget that my half-sister wished I'd just disappear and more importantly I can forget that my father's become a man that I no longer recognise" Lexie explained as she took a sip of her coffee while trying to hold back the tears. She shifted her head slightly and looked at Miranda out of the corner of her eye before shaking her head, "you don't want to hear about me and Mark, I'm sure you have better things to be doing than babysitting an intern".

Sometimes Miranda loved the fact that the interns were scared of her because it meant that they wouldn't bother her with their petty problems, but then there were times like these…times when she could see that they were in desperate need to talk but she couldn't get through to them. "I'd like to think that after surviving the train wreck that had been Shepherd and Grey that my skin's tough enough to handle a couple of more blows. Besides it seems to me that you and Sloan have things under control".

Lexie looked at Miranda as though she had a second head, "what hospital have you been working in?" Lexie asked with a smirk on her face. "Mark got into a fight with Dr. Shepherd because little Sloan couldn't stay away from little Grey, I broke his pe…his _bone" _Lexie corrected herself before continuing, "and on top of all of that the other interns are convinced that I'm only getting in on surgeries because of Mark…yeah we're doing _great_" Lexie commented, the latter part of it oozing with sarcasm.

Miranda smiled as she shook her head at the intern sitting beside her, "firs off I don't even wanna know what the hell little Sloan and little Grey are and secondly how long have you been seeing that fool?"

"Excuse me?" Lexie asked as she furrowed her brows in Miranda's direction.

"How long have you been…_dating _Sloan?" Miranda asked rather sternly, "I mean it ain't that difficult of a question, it's not like I asked you to list the six most common causes of post-op infection in patients with…"

"Ok, ok, ok" Lexie repeated as she waved her free hand in defeat, with a smile on her face Lexie took another sip of her coffee before finally getting to her answer. "Two…three…no two month's, definitely two month's" Lexie answered.

Miranda couldn't help but laugh at the intern, "and here I was thinking that you'd be one of those women who remembered every single anniversary to the t…the kind that turn everything into some sort of anniversary. You know first date, first kiss, first…" Miranda started to ramble on but suddenly stoped a she saw the pointed look coming from Lexie. "But that's not my point..."

"It's not?"

"No" Miranda replied adamantly, "the point is that you and Sloan have been doing whatever it is that you're doing for the last _three _months and do you want to know something?" Miranda asked as she looked at Lexie who silently nodded her head. "For a man who is known for his promiscuity nearly as much as his surgical skills you two are doing a hell of a lot better then Grey and Shepherd were at this point".

"What do you mean?" Lexie asked with a confused look on her face, while Lexie had always known that Meredith and Derek were prone to dramas throughout their relationship Lexie wasn't that clued in on everything.

"You and Sloan have all your stuff together, sure it may be different kinds of stuff…but it's still stuff that you've managed to gel together. You're happy and settled…"

"Don't say that to Mark" Lexie cut in with a panicked look on her face, the last thing she needed was Mark running because he got scared of getting too deep.

Miranda smiled, "what do you think I am…an idiot?" Miranda asked as she took a deep breath before sipping her coffee again. "Now as I was saying before I was _rudely _interrupted" Miranda commented as she gave Lexie a playful glare, "you and Sloan have worked things out. When Grey and Shepherd were two months in they were dealing with cheating ex-wives showing up out of the blue, intern/attending drama and all that other stuff. But you and Mark don't have that problem…the two of you leave all your drama at the door when you walk through those hospital doors and to me that's a hell of a lot more progress then Meredith and Derek…five years and those two still can't leave their drama at the door".

"Were you not _there _when Mark and Derek gave the entire hospital a free boxing match?" Lexie asked with an incredulous look on her face.

Miranda shook her head, "that had nothing to do with you and those two moron's know that, they just can't get over their big fat egos long enough to say sorry".

"Ok so things are good" Lexie conceited as she sheepishly looked down at the cup of coffee in her hands.

Miranda quietly sat there as she studied Lexie for a minute or two, without taking her eyes off of her Miranda took another gulp of her coffee. "Is that why Sloan's clueless about how bad things have gotten with your dad?"

Lexie ignored the question as she continued to look at the floor; she didn't even know where to begin in answering that question. She knew that keeping all of this a secret from Mark was a bad idea, which was why Lexie had tried to keep some distance between her and her father. But like everything else in Lexie's life it seemed that that wasn't going to go to plan, "like you said…Mark has his stuff and I have my stuff, he doesn't need to be bothered by it".

Miranda took a final gulp of her coffee and after swallowing it she shook her head in disbelief, "so it's a genetic thing in the Grey family…this incompetency when it comes to men and relationship".

"Hey I am not incompetent" Lexie exclaimed as she threw the remainder of her coffee into the bin beside her.

Miranda scoffed at Lexie's statement, "apparently you _are_ if you think that you and Sloan can last without getting all your stuff mixed up. Your stuff has to mix, if they don't mix then that really ain't a relationship…it's just two people who are getting nasty with each other all the time but don't share anything else".

"What if he runs? What if he realises that I'm not worth all the hassle?" Lexie asked sheepishly.

"Has the man said such a thing?" Miranda asked and took Lexie's silence as an answer, "then you've got nothing to worry about. Besides this is _Mark Sloan _we're talking about, he was pretty happy jumping around from one bed to another then you came along. You did the one thing that _no one_ thought we would ever see…you helped him evolve, you showed him that he had more to offer then just sex and you showed him what it means to be in a _real _relationship. So why don't you find all that faith and confidence you once had in him and hold on to it…trust that you can lean on him, because lord knows you look like you could you use it".

"He forgets, he forgets who I am and start's to accuse of me things that I have no clue about. Last week he tried to push me out of the house because I had tried to turn Meredith against him while he was at the grocery store buying ice-cream" Lexie commented. She tried to stop the tears but by the time she had managed to summon the strength it was too late, quickly her hand flew up to her cheek so that she could wipe the tears away before Miranda noticed.

"No one expects you to hold it all together, crying doesn't make you weak, it makes you strong, a person willing to let others see their pain…that's strength, not weakness".

"I keep thinking that if I give him time then I'll get my father back, that he'll find a way through this…"

"I may not have anyone in my family battling alcoholism but I have had enough experience with it inside the walls of this hospital to know one thing…they all say the same thing. They all keep telling themselves that the people they love, the people suffering from it just need time. An you know every time I hear that I always think the same thing to myself…always say to myself _ah hello you are inside a hospital…a hospital because the person you love, the person that needs time has hurt themselves or hurt __**you**__. You don't have anymore time, time ran out the minute you needed a surgeon to take a look at the deep gash on your forehead or the broken wrist, or the fracture cheek bone"_ Miranda stated. She could see the devastated look on Lexie's face and that wasn't her intention, but she really didn't know how else to get the message through. "Look I'm not trying to upset you or anything like that, I'm just trying to make you see that times run out…times run out for your father and you need to do what's best for _you_".

"I know, I know" Lexie exclaimed with frustration, she wasn't frustrated at Miranda but at herself for letting things get so out of hand. "I know that I need to accept the fact that the man I once knew is never coming back. I know that I need to stop sugar coating the problem and tell Molly the truth; I know that I need to stop hiding this from Mark and instead lean on him for support…but how? How do I go from trying to do it all on my own to letting other people in, how do I ask for help when my own father doesn't want it?" Lexie asked with a pleading look in her eyes for Miranda to tell her what to do.

Miranda shook her head because she honestly didn't have an answer to that question, she wished did, she wished that she could make all of Lexie's problems go away…but she couldn't. But what Miranda did know was that the only way Lexie was going to get through this was by taking it one step at a time, taking each day as they came. "Baby steps Grey, you start with baby steps" Miranda offered as she rose from he spot and walked away from Lexie.

Lexie sat there watching the people of the hospital come and go, wondering whether she could do it. Could she really let Mark in and trust him not to run, because Lexie wasn't sure that she could deal with a broken heart on top of everything else.

************

**Please, please, please review you guys and I hope that you're all liking this so far. **

_Reviews welcomes, just couldn't seem to get this idea out of my head but it didn't really fit in with my other story…so I'm giving this one a shot and I'll see where it goes. Let me know what you think, tbc :D_


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Lexie tried to be as inconspicuous as possible as she walked the halls of Seattle Grace in search of that one person, the one person she needed to make it all go away for the moment…at least until she was ready to deal with the reality of it.

It was at that moment when she finally spotted him that a sense of relief washed over her and she walked as fast as she could over to him. "Hey" Lexie guiltily acknowledged him as he stood there going over his post-op charts.

"Dr. Grey"

"Can I see you for a second" Lexie asked with a pleading look in her eyes, because she knew that she really had no right to ask him for favour right now.

He only had to look at her for a millisecond before agreeing to her request, he quickly handed his charts over to the nurse before letting Lexie guide him to the nearest on-call room.

He closed the door behind him and stood incomplete silence as he waited for her, he decided that letting her lead the conversation was the best way to handle things.

Lexie on the other hand didn't really know what to say, it was literally eating away at her as she struggled to keep her secret. Lexie only had to think back to this afternoon and she could feel the tears begin to well up in her eyes.

Lexie quietly turned to face him, "don't tell Mark" she pleaded as she raised her left arm and began rolling back her lab coat to reveal a swollen hand which was attached to a wrist that had already begun to turn blue.

"Jesus Lexie" Derek exclaimed as he dashed over to her and gently took her hand into the palm of his so he could examine it.

Lexie just stood there; she refused to look at her hand, it hurt more to remember how it had happened then to think about the actual pain of the injury. So instead she focused on the top of Derek's head as he examined her wrist.

"How the hell did this happen?" Derek asked, but deep down he already knew the answer to that one.

Lexie suddenly lost the power of speech; she couldn't seem to form any kind of sentence. She knew that this was ridiculous, that she needed to tell Derek the truth…but the truth hurts.

Derek shook his head in disappointment, though the disappointment wasn't with Lexie, it was with Thatcher. Derek understood that the man had lost his wife, and it was hard, that after over thirty years with the same person Thatcher Grey now had to suddenly learn to go on without her. But this he couldn't understand; no amount of grief would ever excuse him for physically taking his pain and anger out on Lexie.

"I'll page Torres…"

"What, no, no, no" Lexie exclaimed in a panic as she quickly snatched her hand away from Derek.

"Lexie you're wrist is literally turning blue, not to mention that your hand has swollen up like a balloon. You need an Orthopaedic consult; that means Torres" Derek tried to reason with her.

"Please you can't page Dr. Torres, can't you take care of it…or Hunt, yeah page Dr. Hunt, he knows how to fix broken bones" Lexie replied with a pleading look, the same look that Meredith would give him whenever she wanted something. Derek had to stop himself from smiling as he wondered if those two actually realised how a like they really were.

But a puppy dog look from a Grey wasn't going to make Derek cave, he was not about to compromise the welfare of his future sister-in-law. "You know I can't do that Lexie, by the looks of it you've broken the wrist…and if that's the case then there's also a good chance that you'll need surgery. I'm the _Neuro _guy, not the_ Ortho _guy…you need Torres"

"You can't, you page Torres and she takes one look at my hand she'll start asking questions, and eventually she'll get the truth out of me because that's what she does…she can be quite intimidating" Lexie began to protest as her level of anxiety grew.

"Lexie you won't even tell _me _how this happened, though I'm pretty sure that I could take a stab in the dark and still hit the bullseye on that one…why not Torres?" Derek asked adamantly, because he wasn't willing to let this one go.

Lexie sighed in defeat, "because she's Mark's friend and if you bring her in for a consult then she'll feel this sense of obligation to tell Mark what happened…" Lexie began to explain while Derek shook his head in disbelief.

"You're not seriously telling me that you have no intentions of telling Mark about this?" Derek asked as he finally managed to put all the pieces together, but if she thought that Derek was keeping mum about this then she was insane.

Lexie could feel her cheeks turning red from embarrassment, she knew that asking Derek to keep quiet was a long shot…but it was a shot she needed to take. Despite her little chat with Dr. Bailey Lexie just still wasn't ready to tell Mark the truth, besides this afternoons event wouldn't go down well with Mark.

There really wasn't anyone else that Lexie could turn to, she had thought about going to Alex but he had enough problems with Izzie to be dealing with hers as well. George was out of the question because they hadn't even spoken to each other since word had gotten out about her and Mark. Cristina was a no because Lexie knew that she'd immediately blab to Meredith, and Meredith was just a whole other issue that Lexie wasn't ready to deal with.

The reality was that Lexie really only had one person she could turn to and that was Mark, and right this second she needed another person. Another person who wouldn't try to kill her father once he found out what happened, and Derek was that person.

"Derek please" Lexie begged for the millionth time in the last half hour.

Derek took a step back and stood there with his arms crossed over his chest, "why don't you explain to me how this happened and while you do that I'll think about what I'm going to do?" Derek asked as he gestured towards the couch for them both to sit.

Lexie sat down beside Derek as she gently grasped her bruised wrist with her other hand, she sat there staring intently at her hand as she thought about where to begin. "Dr. Karev paged me to let me know that my…"

"How about we skip that part, Karev already filled me in" Derek explained, he really just wanted to get to the part where Lexie's wrist looked like that.

"It was my fault really" Lexie heard herself saying while she thought back to what Dr. Bailey had said early before about time and surgeons. "I was in such a hurry I had forgotten to take my scrubs off and scrub always seem to set him off, the…they" Lexie struggled to let out.

"They remind him of Meredith's mom" Derek finished for her.

Lexie silently nodded her head, she could feel a tear slide down the side of her cheek…it was only time before the rest followed, "he's never really forgiven me for choosing medicine as a career".

Lexie had that far away look on her face as she sat there stairing into thin air, "As far as his concerned I've abandoned him, I've chosen medicine over him, I'm Ellis Grey…_I'm always Ellis_" Lexie mumbled under her breath but it was loud enough for Derek to hear. "He became fairly lucid by the time I got him home, and mixing pain killers and booze is never a good idea. He saw the scrubs and he freaked, he thought that I was Ellis and we got into this huge fight. He was convinced that I had just gotten home from the hospital so late because I was with the Chief…next thing I knew he had grabbed my wrist and pushed me".

Derek hadn't realised how bad things had gotten with Thatcher, why would he when Meredith refused to have anything to do with the man. Half of Derek couldn't help but be grateful that Meredith didn't want him anywhere near her, but the other half of him hated seeing Lexie go through this and it was all the more reason for her to tell Mark.

"You need to let me page Torres…and you _need _to tell Mark" Derek stated, he was the one now with the pleading look on his face.

Lexie emphatically shook her head in answer to Derek's request, "I can't do that Derek".

"Why the hell not?" he asked with a hint of irritation, he hated all the secrecy that had gone on between him and Mark and he'd be damned if he was going to let it continue.

"_Because I'm scared_" Lexie exclaimed as she jumped off the couch and began pacing the small on-call room.

"Scared of what?"

"That I'm not enough…it's hard enough waking up every morning wondering whether today's gonna be the day that Mark realises he can do so much better than me. I don't need to add drunken father to the list of reasons why he should walk away" Lexie finally explained, hoping that Derek would understand.

Derek didn't actually have any words to Lexie's outburst; instead he found himself laughing uncontrollably so much that his insides were beginning to hurt.

"It's not funny" Lexie pouted.

"Ye…yes it is" Derek finally managed to say after taking a few deep breaths. "I'm supposed to be having this conversation with _Mark_, he's the Meredith in your relationship not you".

"Yeah well, well you're an ass"

"Nice, insult the guy you're asking to keep your secret for you" Derek teased for a split second, and then in that instant Derek had his serious face on again.

"You need to give Mark a little bit more credit than that, because you're the _one_ person he expects not to judge him. Take it from me Lexie, when you underestimate Mark's ability as a person he doesn't forgive so easily" Derek explained as he thought back to the events that lead to his current situation with his best friend.

Lexie really didn't have much to say to that because she knew that Derek was right, she saw how hurt and betrayed Mark had felt by Derek. In Mark's mind Derek warning him to stay away from Lexie was his way to telling Mark that he wasn't good enough.

"So what's it going to be Hunt or Torres?" Derek asked in a tone that was practically begging. "But can I just remind you that if you choose Hunt, if you choose to hide this from Mark then I can't be apart of this…I won't lie to my best friend" Derek added.

Lexie couldn't help but bite her bottom lip as she thought about what Derek had said about Mark and trust; she needed to decide right then and there if she could trust Mark. She did, she trusted him without any hesitation what so ever but actions speak louder than words. Lexie closed her eyes for a split second and braced herself for what was to come; opening them she stared directly into Derek's eyes, "page Dr. Torres".

Derek nodded his head as he tried to hold back a smile that was desperate to come out. Without second guessing her or giving her a chance to change her mind Derek quickly left the room in search of Callie.

*****************

"Dr. Torres" Derek called out to Callie who was practically flying down the hallway.

"Can't talk Shepherd, just got a 911 page" Callie explained in a rush.

Derek grabbed Callie's arm just as she walked past him, Callie was moving that fast that she nearly fell flat on her face. "Walk with me" Derek suggested as he lead Callie towards the on-call room by the arm.

"Uh did you not hear me, I have an emergency" Callie reiterated with a frown on her face.

"I know, I'm your 911" Derek stated with a smile as he swung open the door to the on-call room and guided her in.

The moment that Callie saw Lexie standing near the bed in a rather nervous manner she had a flashback to a few months ago. Callie whipped her head around the room then bent down to take a look under the bed.

"What are you doing?" Derek asked in confusion.

Callie quickly straightened herself up, "the last time I got a 911 page and was dragged into an on-call room there was a broken penis involved…along with her" Callie explained as she pointed at Lexie.

"God I'm never going to live that down am I" Lexie stated out loud as she shook her head in disbelief.

"Can we please stop talking about Mark's…?" Derek couldn't say it.

"Penis" Callie finished for him with a smirk on her face.

Derek's only response was a glare at Callie that was supposed to be intimidating, but instead it only made her laugh. "What? You're a grown man, a head Neurosurgeon and you can't even say the word penis…I mean you've got one to buddy".

Lexie was trying really hard not to laugh at the look on Derek's face but it felt good, it felt good to have a reason to smile for the first time today and Lexie really wanted to thank Derek for talking her into picking Callie.

"So I've either been paged for an entirely different reason or there really is a broken _penis_ in the room, and since there's only one person in this room with that certain appendage…." Callie suggested with a devious grin.

"Show her the damn wrist" Derek snapped because all this talk of broken penis' was certainly not good, it almost made Derek consider forgoing sex…especially after finding out _how _Mark had broken it.

Lexie sent daggers flying over to Derek with the way she had glared at him; he had taken her fun away. Lexie stomped over to Callie and once again rolled up the sleeve of her lab coat to reveal her injury.

"Good lord Grey what did you do to yourself?" Callie asked as she guided Lexie over to the bed, they both sat down so Callie could get a better look at it.

Lexie gave Derek a look that was practically begging him to decide for her, to decide whether or not to start with the truth now. But Lexie knew that Derek wouldn't do it, that Derek was all about self-help and all that crap.

Lexie took a deep breath to steady her nerves, "I didn't do anything to myself…my dad did this".

Callie's head quickly whipped up to Derek with a horrified look on her face, Derek inturn simply nodded his head in silent affirmation of what Lexie had just told her. Callie decided to quickly let the matter go because other people's family lives were not her business, what was her business was broken bones and that's what she needed to concentrate on right now. "Can you bend any of your fingers Grey?" Callie asked as she gently squeezed each one to check for blood circulation.

Lexie was able to bend her fingers about half-way before the pain really started to kick in and went shooting up towards her wrist. "Okay you can stop now Grey, no need to be a hero" Callie ordered just as Lexie was about to try and ball her hand up into a fist again.

Callie gently let go of her hand and got up from the bed, "Grey can you get yourself down to x-rays or do I need to page an intern?" Callie asked with a concerned look.

"No, no there's _no_ need for interns, I can manage on my own" Lexie jumped in as she rose from the bed. "In fact the less people who knew about this the better" Lexie stated more as a request for secrecy.

Callie gave Lexie a funny look for about a split second before deciding to ignore the intern's comment, "well get going Grey that had won't fix itself" Callie ordered.

Lexie quickly dashed out of the room without saying another word, Derek quickly followed but was pulled back by Callie. "Her _father _did that to her?" Callie asked dumbstruck.

"He was drunk" Derek stated as though that was a good enough excuse for what had happened.

Callie on the other hand a look of complete disgust on her face, "I don't care if the guy was high on a cocktail of meds _and _drunk…that doesn't give him the right to do something like that, I'm surprised Mark hasn't tried to kill the guy".

Derek quickly looked away from Callie but the action did not go unnoticed. "Shepherd he does know right, please tell me that Mark _knows_ that his girlfriend's hand is the size of a grape fruit?"

"She doesn't want to freak him out"

"And you're encouraging the secrecy" Callie asked with a look of disappointment.

"Don't look at me like that"

"Did you _see _her hand; I'll be amazed if there isn't a single broken bone in that hand of hers. Not to mention the fact that if there is I'll probably have to operate on it…so tell me genius how do you _two_ plain on keeping Mark out of the dark about _that_?" Callie asked with a baffled look.

"I'm working on that…I mean I'm trying to convince her to tell Mark, it's just going to take a little bit longer than I thought" Derek explained.

"He works here Derek, along with all those other interns who don't know when to keep their mouths shut…you should know better than anyone else that secrets can not bee kept inside this hospital" Callie tried to reason with Derek, because it almost sounded as though they were asking her not to tell Mark…and Callie hated lying to Mark, one of the biggest foundations of their friendship was the honesty part.

Before Derek could respond to Callie's comment the sound of his pager filled the room, quickly taking his pager Derek read the 911 and headed towards the door. "I have a 911, page me the minute you have Lexie's scans ok" Derek ordered before flying out the door and left Callie alone, to wonder whether or not Addison had the right idea about this hospital.

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**Please, please review you guys and I hope that you all like this so far; even for something that was a basic idea.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry this has taken so long to be updated but I've had real writer's block with this story, but I hope what I have finally managed to produce is at least half decent.**

**Chapter 4**

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Derek hesitated as he watched Mark scribble something down on the chart in front of him; he was torn between his sense of loyalty to Mark and his sense of obligation to Lexie.

While Derek mulled it over deep down he already knew what he was going to do, he already knew that, despite everything that had happened over the last few weeks with Mark, their friendship would always win out in the end.

He also knew that if it was Meredith who had gone to Mark for help he _knew _that Mark would come to him, that Mark would tell him the truth.

Derek took a deep breath to brace himself for what was about to happen and walked over to Mark, "I'm asking you as your _best friend, _can we please put aside what's happened over the last few weeks because there's something that I need to talk to you about and it's important…it's about Lexie" Derek managed to say all in one breath before he lost his nerve.

At first Mark had no desire to talk to Derek or to grant him any favours but as soon as he mentioned Lexie's name Mark froze. "If this is the part where you tell me to walk away from Lexie and leave her alone because I'll only end up hurting then I'm sorry_ Dr. Shepherd _but I can't do that" Mark answered with a strained voice and quickly began walking away.

Derek sighed in disappointment; he knew that getting Mark to talk to him would be a challenge because after all he had been the one to practically tell his best friend that he wasn't good enough before hitting him.

Derek jogged up to Mark and pulled him into the nearest conference room, Mark immediately began to yell. "Derek what the hell is the matter with you, first you try to beat me up and _now _you want to talk…it's a little too late for that".

"Shut up" Derek exclaimed with his hands on his hips, "we can talk about us later, right now I'm here to talk to you about your _girlfriend _who is down in radiology having scans done on her hand as we speak".

Mark's anger was immediately replaced with fear and panic, "what…why is she…what's wrong with her?" Mark asked; he was wringing his scrub cap so tightly that Derek could see his knuckles had turned white.

"Why don't you calm down, take a seat and I'll explain everything to you" Derek suggested as he pointed to the nearest chair next to Mark.

Mark shook his head and began to walk towards the door with every intention of going down to Radiology, but Derek quickly blocked him off. "Derek move" Mark growled at him, he wasn't in the mood to have another fight with him.

"No" Derek retorted standing his ground, "trust me when I say that I am doing you a favour because you need a few minutes to cool down…if you go charging in there all pissed off and grunting like you are right now the two of you will only end up in a huge fight" Derek tried to reason with Mark. He had seen how scared Lexie had been, he wanted to try and make this a little less painful for Lexie _and _Mark.

"Fine" Mark hissed as he pulled a chair down and flopped down into the empty seat, "what happened?"

Derek walked over and sat across from Mark, "her dad was brought in this morning, he drove into a tree and cut his head" Derek explained, deciding that he wasn't going to spare any details from Mark…because it's what Mark would have done.

"He was drunk" Mark stated, unsurprised because it wasn't really anything new to him. While he and Lexie had this unspoken agreement not to talk about Thatcher's drinking problem Mark still didn't like it whenever Lexie went to see him alone.

"Yeah, Dr. Bailey and Karev were the ones who tended to him when the Chief and told Karev to track Lexie down, she was supposed to be scrubbing in on a surgery with me at the time…Mark, if I had known what was going on before the surgery had started I would have tracked you down that second" Derek pledged, hoping that Mark would believe him.

"But you didn't" Mark pointed out.

"No I didn't because by the time Karev told me what was really going on my patient was waiting in the O.R. and had already been put under" Derek explained, wondering if he could have done more for Lexie.

"Then what" Mark questioned in the hopes of moving the conversation along, he really didn't want to be in the same room as Derek longer than necessary.

"Thatcher's drinking…its gotten bad Mark; apparently he has these hallucinations now when ever he's drunk. This afternoon when Lexie took Thatcher home the painkillers Bailey had given him were beginning to wear off, he saw Lexie dressed in her scrubs and he snapped…"

"Why" Mark with a tight voice, trying not to show his fear or anger to Derek.

"Because they remind him of Meredith's mom, he saw the scrubs and he was convinced that Lexie was Ellis Grey. They got into a fight, he grabbed her by the wrist and pushed her" Derek explained with a sorrowful look on his face; the more he heard about Thatcher Grey the more he disliked the man.

"Why didn't she come to me…why didn't she tell me how bad things had gotten with him, why did she go to _you _and not me?" Mark questioned Derek as he jumped from his seat and began pacing the room.

"Because she was scared Mark" Derek tried to reason, hoping Mark would understand that her fear had nothing to do with him and everything to do with her. "She was scared that you'd walk away, that you wouldn't think she was worth putting up with Thatcher after everything else she had done to you".

Mark paused and faced Derek, "what the hell had she done to _me_" Mark asked with a frown on his face.

"Well for starters there's your broken…" Derek mumbled while pointing down to Mark's bottom half, ignoring Callie's laugh that he could hear in the back of him mind. "Then there's the whole fighting with your best friend over a girl who you haven't spoken to in three weeks part".

"What did you say to her" Mark asked as he held his breath waiting for Derek's answer, he was terrified that Derek had told Lexie not to bother with him…that she couldn't count on Mark for anything.

"I told her that she needed to tell you the truth…that she needed to give you more credit then that, and to not underestimate your ability because you don't forgive so easily when I do. I also told her that she needed to trust you because you're always there for the people who mean the most to you when it really matters" Derek explained, there was a faint trace of a smile on his face.

Mark was speechless because that was the last thing he had ever expected Derek to say, he could almost feel a small twinge of pride knowing that Derek was beginning to see him in a different light.

"What did you tell her about us?" Mark questioned hesitantly, while he was still mad that Derek had taken his anger out on him it didn't mean that he hadn't missed having him around. Besides if they could forgive each other over Addison couldn't they forgive each other for everything else?

Derek looked down at his hands for a second as he thought about what he wanted to say, he knew that this was important because it would be the starting point for getting their friendship back on track. "I didn't say anything about that because I was too concerned with getting her to let Torres take a look at her hand…but what I would have told her was that none of it had been her fault, that what happened between the two of us up on that bridge was all my doing" Derek announced nervously.

Mark had known Derek for twenty years and this had been the first time he had ever heard Derek admit that he was wrong let alone apologise to him, "yeah well my timing did suck" Mark threw in hoping that it would ease some of the tension.

Derek let out a soft chuckle, "I could have handled a lot of things a lot better lately…besides you were right, it's not my place to tell you who you can and can't sleep with. You're a grown man and you need to make your own decisions…I'm sorry Mark, I'm sorry that I made you feel the need to hide you and Lexie from me. But more importantly I'm sorry that I wasn't there, that I didn't get to see my best friend fall in love" Derek joked.

Mark stood up and walked around to Derek, "how about we call it even and go back to before" Mark suggested as he held out his hand to Derek, purposefully ignoring Derek's comment about him being in love.

Derek smiled as he nodded his head and shook Mark's hand, he felt like a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. But more importantly it felt like everything that had ever happened between them with the whole Addison thing was finally put to rest.

"Shepherd I was told I could find…" Torres was calling out as she charged through door but stopped as soon as she saw Mark, quickly hiding the scans behind her back.

"It's ok Torres he knows, I told him everything" Derek reassured her, "are those Lexie's scans" Derek asked nodding to her hand.

Callie hesitated as she looked back and forth between the two, "does Grey know that you know that Mark knows?" she questioned suspiciously.

Derek smirked at Callie's protectiveness over Lexie, "Before when Lexie was tossing up between paging you or Hunt I made it pretty clears to her that if she chose you I'd be telling Mark, yet she still chose you so I reckon that says something".

"Ok can we just stop with all the loose chit chat so Torres can tell me what the hell is wrong with my girlfriend" Mark snapped at the two of them, with only Derek in the room he could keep pretending that Lexie wasn't lying in some hospital bed hurt. But with Callie in the room Mark couldn't pretend anymore, especially not when she was holding on to Lexie's scans.

"She is one hell of a lucky woman, while daddy dearest did some major bruising to her wrist he managed to keep every single bone in tact" Callie announced some what surprised, she was certain that they were going to have to operate on it.

Mark let out a sigh of relief as he leant against the table, "so she'll be fine?" Mark questioned Callie, wanting reassurance that he hadn't misheard her.

"Her dad did one hell of a number on her wrist Mark…but yeah she'll be fine. All she needs is to go home, get some rest and keep icing the wrist for the next twenty-four hours" Callie ordered Mark, "and you can be the one to tell Dr. Grey that she won't be able to hold a scalpel for the next two days, the bones need time to heal from all the bruising" Callie explained with an evil grin.

Mark groaned as he scrubbed his face with his hands, while he was relieved that Lexie was fine and that Thatcher hadn't done any permanent damage he wasn't looking forward to telling her that piece of information.

"Ok well my job here is done, so I'm going to go and…" Callie announced awkwardly as she pointed towards the door and began retreating out of the room.

"I guess I better go and tell Lexie the good news" Mark spoke softly; he wasn't looking forward to the argument that was to come.

"Mark" Derek called out with a smile on his face; it felt good to have his best friend back. "Take Lexie home, she won't be any good to anyone around here for the rest of the day and I can make sure that the Chief reschedules all your surgeries" Derek suggested.

Mark nodded his head, the sound of going home early and talking this through with Lexie sounded rather appealing. "Thanks" Mark whispered before leaving the room in search of Lexie.

"You're welcome" Derek answered to an empty room before he too left in search of Meredith, deciding that Meredith needed to know what had happened.

************

Lexie sat on the hospital as she gently nursed her bruised hand, she was trying really hard not cry every time she looked at it but it was starting to become a losing battle.

How was she supposed to forgive him, how was she was supposed to forget the fact that her father had done this to her. A part of her still couldn't quite believe it, it was times like these that she really she missed her mother.

Lexie was quickly pulled away from her thoughts as she heard the door close, the minute she looked up and saw Mark standing there with a sorrowful look on his face she cracked.

Tears began rolling down her cheeks and she wasn't sure she could stop even if she wanted to, though Lexie kept wondering if she was really crying for her farther or for the fact that Mark knew.

Mark didn't even think twice, the second he saw a tear slide down her cheek he dashed over to the bed and jumped up beside her. Mark pulled her in towards him and held her as she cried her eyes out with her head buried in his chest.

It killed Mark to see her like this; parents weren't supposed to cause this kind of pain to their own children. He looked down at her swollen wrist and cringed, Callie was right…Thatcher could have done some serious damage to her hand, and the thought of that made him angry.

"I'm pathetic" Lexie announced as she pulled away from Mark and began rubbing his tear stained scrub shirt.

Mark shook his head as he reached out and wiped her tears away, "no you're not...you're hurting, and you have every right to be hurting" Mark reassured her before softly kissing her on the lips.

Lexie smiled faintly at Mark, "I'm sorry that I didn't tell you about all of this sooner" she whispered timidly.

Mark shrugged his shoulders, at first he was furious with her for keeping this from him…but after his talk with Derek he could see where she was coming from. "You were trying to protect your old man…I'm not saying I agree with it, but I understand" Mark answered.

Lexie sighed as she leant her head against Mark's chest and closed her eyes, "I know that he's my father and I know that I'm supposed to love him no matter what but…but I'm just so tired of doing it all the time. It's like I drew the short straw, and while Meredith gets Derek and Molly gets Eric and they live their happy little lives together, I'm the one stuck with taking all his crap" Lexie spoke softly, it was something that she really needed to get off of her chest.

She slightly pulled away from Mark so she could look him in the eye, "Is it ever going to be my turn, when do I get to be the one who get's taken care of without having to constantly wonder if today's the day that he's going to kill himself in a car accident…or whether today he's going to be the angry or happy drunk" Lexie whispered softly with a pleading look on her face.

Mark pulled Lexie back down and tightened his grip around her waist while running his hand through her hair, "well I have good news for you little Grey, it begins now" Mark declared with a smile on his face.

Lexie let out an exhausted smile as she shook her head, too tried to really understand what Mark was going on about.

"I am going to take you home and then we are going to order the greasiest pizza ever known to man kind…and I'll even let you watch one of those horribly trashy chick films" Mark explained with a goofy grin on his face, he felt like he could breath easier seeing Lexie genuinely smile.

Lexie kissed Mark hard and longingly on the lips, it still amazed her how just being near him made her feel safe and protected. "I hope you know that I don't really deserve you but that you're stuck with me for as long as you'll have me" Lexie softly spoke as she rang her fingertip across Mark's beard.

Mark didn't answer her; he wasn't sure what he was supposed to say to that but there was a part of him that wanted to tell her he felt the same way. But there was also a part of him that wasn't quite ready to deal with those feelings yet; he hadn't let himself feel like that in a long time.

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**Please, please review you guys and I hope that you all like this so far; even for something that was a basic idea.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5  
**

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"Hey" Meredith greeted Lexie and Mark the minute she walked into living room, Derek trailing not far behind.

Her eyes were instantly drawn to the sight of Lexie's bruised wrist, "how is it" Meredith asked with a concerned look on her face.

Lexie shrugged her shoulders; she really didn't want to talk about it anymore. She and Mark had been talking about it until they were both blue in the face; now she just wanted to forget that today had even happened.

"Lexie I am so sorry" Meredith apologised as she pushed the empty pizza box to the side and sat down on the coffee table.

"Meredith you have nothing to apologise for" Lexie tried to reassure Meredith.

Ever since Meredith had told Lexie that she was in the wedding they had seemed to have grown closer, Meredith even found herself _wanting _to be the big sister that Lexie obviously needed right now.

"You should have paged me, you shouldn't have tried taking him home by yourself" Meredith argued, her anger towards Thatcher slowly seeping through.

"Meredith" Derek called out in a soft warning, hoping that she understood not to push it right now.

Lexie closed her eyes as she shook her head, "looking after a drunken Thatcher is what I do, it's just become second nature. Besides I really didn't think that he would react like that…"

"Even dead the woman's still ruining our lives" Meredith spat out bitterly as she jumped up on to her feet and began pacing the floor.

"Meredith this isn't your mom's fault" Lexie tried to reason with her, but Lexie had learnt early on that where Thatcher and Ellis Grey were concerned reason had no place.

"Really Lexie" Meredith exclaimed as she continued to pace the living room, "because it sure as hell sounds like it is. The only reason that Thatcher lashed out at you is because he thought you were my mother…the woman he hates, the woman who destroyed his life. Nobody forced her to have an affair, nobody forced her to try and keep me away from him. If…if my mother had just been a normal person then Thatcher never would have hurt you, so don't you dare tell me that this isn't my mother's fault Lexie because it is, it's her fault" Meredith cried out in anger.

Mark looked back and forth between Meredith who was pacing up and down the room and Derek who was now sitting down in an armchair. "Your mother had an affair?" Mark asked in disbelief.

With her arms crossed Meredith looked over at Mark with a scowl on her face, in her moment of insanity she had forgotten that Mark Sloan was still not privy to _all _the horrible secrets of the Grey family.

"Yes Mark my mother had an affair, she had an affair throughout her entire Residency with the Chief" Meredith answered bitterly. "While I was being neglected and abandoned, by my father, Ellis Grey was off having an affair with the Chief of Seattle Grace…she was off being extraordinary" Meredith snapped.

Lexie and Derek looked at each other with concern; they had both believed that Meredith had put all of this behind her.

"So Ellis Grey and the Chief…our Chief, Richard Webber, were having an affair" Mark repeated hesitantly, wanting to make sure that he understood properly.

Meredith sighed in exhaustion as she sat down in the armchair opposite Derek; she knew that taking her anger out on Mark was silly. He couldn't be blamed for the choices that Ellis had made, "yes" Meredith answered.

"Well you forget to tell me that piece of information before I went and got myself involved with a Grey" Mark teased Derek with a playful glare, hoping that it would take some of the focus off of Meredith and her mommy issues.

"I didn't think that you'd really mind, you've always been the kind of guy who likes getting involved with the messy stuff" Derek teased back before stealing Mark's beer and taking a sip.

Meredith and Lexie looked back and forth between the boys with a frown on their face, "are you two talking again?" Lexie asked hesitantly because she really didn't want to get her hopes up.

Mark rolled his eyes as he sat back and placed his arm over the couch, "we're not girls, we're _men_, and men don't do the cold shoulder crap like you woman" Mark answered with a stern look.

"And I decided that I couldn't really stay mad at him because really if you think about it we can't help who we fall in love with" Derek jumped in.

Mark and Lexie both gave Derek an awkward smile, while they had both been thinking about those words a lot lately neither of them really had the guts to say it out loud yet.

Meredith could see the growing concern in Lexie's eyes, the fear of falling in love and being happy…the fear that it would come at the price of her medical career. Meredith could read it all over Lexie's face because it was the same look Meredith once had.

"You know despite what a crappy mother my mom was she did end up giving me the best advice I've ever heard" Meredith announced as she thought back to it.

"She did?" Derek asked with a shocked look on his face, Meredith speaking kindly about Ellis Grey was definitely something that he wasn't used to.

"She told me that anyone can fall in love and be blindly happy. But not everyone can pick up a scalpel and save a life" Meredith explained as she turned her head on the side as she thought about it. "Then again she also told me that I was a disappointment, and that I was nothing but ordinary" Meredith added.

"How is that the _best advice she ever gave you_ exactly big Grey, to me it sounds like some pretty crappy advice" Mark spoke up with a frown.

Meredith turned her attention towards Lexie and looked her in the eyes, "because from the moment she told me that I was determined to prove her wrong, to prove to her that I was anything but ordinary. I was determined to find a way to have it all just to spite her, and I did. Because of her I had the courage to fall in love and be happy with Derek while saving lives" Meredith announced with a proud smile on her face.

Lexie smiled back at Meredith, she understood exactly what Meredith was trying to say and she felt grateful to know that Meredith had once had the same concerns.

The entire room went quiet and Lexie jumped in her seat at the sudden sound of someone banging on the front door.

"_Lexie!" _they all heard Thatcher yelling off the top of his lungs as he continued to pound on the front door.

Lexie had become so used to being at his beck and call that she didn't even think about it; Lexie quickly jumped up from the couch and headed towards the front door. But she was suddenly stopped by Mark who grabbed Lexie by her wrist.

"Where do you think you're going?" Mark asked with a frown on his face, if Lexie seriously thought that he was going to let her go out there then she had to think again.

"Mark he's drunk…"

"Exactly, and after what he did to you today there is no way you're going out there" Mark argued.

"Mark we can't just leave him out there, I know my father and if he doesn't talk to me he won't go home…"

"Fine then I'll talk to him" Mark declared before quickly walking over to the door.

"Mark no wait" Lexie cried out while bolting to the front door, "you can't go out there. The two of you are only going to end up in a huge fight…"

"Lexie you have two choices, either you move out of my way and let me deal with your father or he can stand out there and bang on that damn door all he likes. It's your choice Lexie but either way he will _not _be talking to you tonight" Mark ordered.

"Lexie" Meredith called out in a soft voice, trying to convey to her sister that it was best for her to just get out of Mark's way.

Lexie sighed in defeat and moved away from the door, not even a second after Mark's hand reach the door knob Derek was standing next to Mark.

Lexie and Meredith stood side by side as they watched Derek and Mark walk out onto the front porch to face their father, quickly closing the door behind them so that the girls couldn't hear them.

"They're going to kill him" Lexie declared with a worrying look on her face.

"They're not going to kill him" Meredith reasoned with Lexie, "at least I don't _think_ that they're going to kill him" she muttered.

************

"Go home Thatcher" Derek ordered as he stood on top of the porch with his hands tucked inside his pockets.

"No" Thatcher slurred while completely missing the step on the porch and nearly falling flat on his face. Steadying himself against the railing Thatcher was forced to squint his eyes so that he would stop seeing doubles of Mark.

Compared to Thatcher Grey Mark was a very intimidating man, he was double in height and far more built than Thatcher would ever be.

"I'm not going anywhere until I talk to my daughter" Thatcher explained, he was finding it hard to keep his eyes opened.

"You're drunk Thatcher, go home" Mark growled as he stood on the porch with his arms crossed over his chest, purposefully showing off the muscles in his biceps.

Thatcher lazily shook his head, with the amount of alcohol he had consumed every movement he made was sluggish. "Yo…you surgeons are all the same, you all think that you're better than me but you're not. You're just as bad as Ellis was and if you think that you're not going to end up hurting my little girl then you're dead wrong. I'm the only one…" Thatcher slurred.

Mark steeled himself, trying not to let Thatcher's words affect him. He knew for a fact that he wasn't anything like Meredith's mother….at least not anymore and that was all because of Lexie.

"You're the only one what Thatcher?" Derek asked with a frown on his face while pulling his cell phone out of his pocket.

"Maybe what he was trying to say was that he's the only one that's allowed to disappoint Lexie, or that he's the only one who can really hurt her" Mark declared with a blank look on his face.

"You son of a bitch" Thatcher exclaimed as he unsteadily took a step up onto the porch and tried to take a swing at Mark, but completely missing because of his blurred vision.

Mark quickly took a step back as he watched Thatcher tumble down on to the ground. With a look of disdain on his face Mark watched Thatcher trying to take a deep breath while on his hands and knees.

"You're pathetic" Mark declared in disgust, "you have _two _daughters, two amazingly smart, funny and resilient daughters and you're too drunk to even realise it" Mark spat out.

Thatcher shook his head trying to ignore what Mark was saying, he already knew that he had screwed up. He already knew that his drinking was costing Thatcher his family, but as far as he was concerned it was already too late.

Mark reluctantly grabbed Thatcher by the arm and helped him up after getting tired of watching the man struggle to get back up onto his feet.

"You're their _father_, you're the one who's supposed to look after them…you're supposed to be the parent, not the other way around" Mark argued as he roughly pushed Thatcher down off of the porch and away from him and Derek.

"Cab's on its way" Derek announced while tucking his cell phone back into his pocket.

Thatcher began shaking his head, "I'm not going anywhere until I talk to Lexie" Thatcher argued stubbornly.

************

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" Meredith asked as she quickly grabbed Lexie by her hand.

The two of them had been sitting at the bottom of the staircase, listening to everything that had been said word for word.

"I have to go out there" Lexie tried to reason with Meredith.

Meredith began shaking her head, "if you go out there Mark is going to be furious with you Lexie, do you really want to end a shitty day fighting with Mark?"

Just as Lexie was about to answer she was interrupted by the sound of her cell phone going off. Lexie groaned as she looked down at the caller I.D. "It's Molly" Lexie announced before reluctantly answering the phone, "hey Molly" Lexie answered while trying to sound as cheerful as possible.

Meredith could already note the fake smile and the fake tone of Lexie's voice, but Meredith was grateful for the distraction that had stopped Lexie from going out side.

Lexie instantly dropped the cheerful act and closed her eyes to try and keep herself calm, "Molly that's not what happened" Lexie argued as she walked into the kitchen so that Meredith wouldn't hear the conversation.

Meredith scrunched up her noise in dislike; she didn't need to be a psychic to guess what Lexie and Molly were arguing about. And it only helped to reaffirm Meredith's dislike for Molly.

************

"Yes you are, you're going to get into that cab and you're going to go home. Then you're going to sober up and maybe, just maybe we might then consider letting you anywhere near Lexie and Meredith" Derek reasoned.

They weren't trying to keep Thatcher away from his daughters, Mark and Derek were just trying to control the situation and stop it from getting out of hand.

"No" Thatcher exclaimed in anger, it was happening all over again. He was being kept away from his daughters by the surgeon.

"Thatcher why don't you do something right for once in your life and go home, sober up and try and remember what it means to be a parent…"

"You don't know anything about being a parent so don't you dare tell me how to do my job" Thatcher slurred.

Mark shook his head in disbelief; he wasn't sure whether Thatcher really was that dumb or whether it was the alcohol. "No I'm not a parent, but I do know what it's like to have parents that are nothing but a disappointment. Lexie isn't the one who's supposed to be looking after you, Lexie's not the one who's supposed to feel guilty for living her life…but she is and it's because of you" Mark exclaimed in anger. "You're the parent; you're the one who's supposed to be protecting her, not the other way around".

Just as Mark finished his little speech the cab which Derek had called pulled up and the driver began honking his horn.

"Come on Thatcher it's time to go home" Derek explained while he and Mark stepped down off of the porch.

They both grabbed Thatcher by each arm and guided him over towards the cab, making sure that Thatcher was in and secure Derek turned his attention to the driver. "35 Duncan street, and keep the change" Derek ordered holding out a forty dollar bill.

Quickly closing the door, Derek and Mark watched as the cab pulled away with Thatcher inside of it.

"Come on its getting cold out here" Derek told Mark before quickly walking into house, Mark not far behind.

************

Mark and Derek were greeted with the sounds of a screaming Lexie echoing down the hallway from the kitchen.

"What the hell is going on?" Derek asked Meredith who was still sitting on the staircase.

Meredith sighed with her head in her hands, "Molly called".

"God I am so sick and tired of your self-righteous act Molly, pretending like you're the one who's had to make the greatest sacrifice since mom died. Well I've got news for you missy, while you're over there playing happy family I'm the one who's looking after dad. I'm the one who all the bar tenders know by name, who's number they've memorised, so don't you dare tell me that I haven't been pulling my wait around" Lexie yelled as she came walking down the hallway.

Lexie instantly froze the moment she spotted Mark and Derek, "no of course not Molly, do you seriously think I'd do that" Lexie retorted. Quickly being brought back to the conversation by whatever it was that Molly had said.

"Enough already" Meredith cried out in frustration, Meredith quickly got up on to her feet and grabbed the phone from Lexie. Without even thinking twice Meredith hung up on Molly and tossed the phone over to Mark, "if you let her even get so much as a finger on that phone I'll hunt you down" Meredith warned.

Lexie stood there with her mouth hanging open, "you just hung up on Molly…"

"I got tired of hearing you two fight, all you seem to do is fight" Meredith explained with an annoyed look on her face.

Lexie shook her head and decided to ignore Meredith's comment, if only Meredith knew how dead right she was. Lately it seemed that Molly and Lexie couldn't have a single conversation that wouldn't break out into an argument over their father.

"Where's dad?" Lexie asked, hoping to change the subject from Molly.

"We put him in a cab and sent him home" Mark answered bluntly, he wasn't going to apologise for keeping Lexie away from him.

Lexie groaned while she pinched the ridge of her nose, she could already feel the headache that was coming on. "Perfect, just freakin perfect…"

"Lexie it's alright, Thatcher will be fine…" Derek tired to reason but stopped as soon as Lexie began shaking her head.

"How much money did you give him for the cab?" Lexie asked in frustration.

"$40" Derek answered.

Lexie shook her head in disbelief, "he's a drunk" Lexie cried out while running her hands through her hair. "You gave an alcoholic forty dollars for a cab ride that only costs ten and he knows that" Lexie answered.

Sighing in exhaustion Lexie quickly gathered her jacket and pursue.

Mark watched her with a frown, "what are you doing?" he asked hesitantly.

With the combination of the day's events and her unpleasant conversation with Molly Lexie's anger and frustration was finally unleashed on Derek and Mark. "Well I no have to go and fix the mess that you two have made" Lexie answered sarcastically.

"Lexie…."

"He's a drunk, I can guarantee you that the minute that cab turned the corner dad told the driver to take him to the nearest bar…especially with an extra thirty bucks in his pocket" Lexie snapped.

"I'm coming…"

"No you're not" Lexie retorted at Mark, "you two have already done more than enough" Lexie spat out before leaving the house and slamming the door behind her.

Meredith gave Mark a sympathetic smile, "it's been a rough day for her, she didn't mean it" Meredith tried to reassure Mark.

************

Mark tossed and turned as he tried to find some semblance of sleep while all alone in Meredith's attic. It had been nearly five hours since Lexie had gone after her father and she still hadn't come home or called.

It was driving Mark insane not knowing whether or not she was alright, whether or not Thatcher had tried to do another number on her. Mark felt like he was about to crawl out of his own skin from insanity, sighing in defeat he quickly swung his legs over the bed.

Just as Mark was about to get up and change so that he could go and look for Lexie she walked through the door. With an exhausted sigh Lexie flopped down onto the bed, she was too tired to even take her own shoes off.

While Lexie had tended to her father and his drunken state she couldn't help but keep repeating what Molly had said to her over and over again. A part of her couldn't help but wonder if her sister had been right…had she really sacrificed her father's health for spending time with Mark.

Mark carefully crawled back into bed and wrapped his arms around Lexie before gently pulling her up against him. He sighed in relief because just knowing that Lexie was in his arms, that she was safe and that he could protect her made all the difference in the world to him.

It killed him to know how deeply he felt for Lexie and yet not be able to say the words out loud.

That moment, the moment he turned to look over at Lexie while Izzie and Alex were standing up at the alter Mark knew. He just knew that this was it for him, there would never be anybody else…there would never be another woman that he wanted a life with. To grow old with, to buy a house with, to get married and to have kids with…Lexie was it.

But the fear of rejection…the fear of Lexie laughing at him and saying no was still too great of a risk for him to take that leap, to say screw it and just say I love you.

While Mark and Lexie laid there in the bed together and Mark began to gently stroke Lexie's hair she turned her head to face him. Lexie knew that Mark wasn't going to like what she was about to say but she didn't have a choice, Lexie had been over this a million times and it seemed to be the only solution.

"I have to go home, I have to move back in with my dad…it's the only way he's ever going to get any help" Lexie declared with a shaky voice.

Laying in the dark Lexie didn't need a light on to know that Mark had a frown on his face because she could sense it. She could sense it the minute Mark's entire body tensed up as she made her announcement, his grip even tightened around her waist.

"Why" seemed to be the only word Mark could get past the knot in his throat.

"Because Molly…"

"Screw Molly" Mark jumped in; he sighed in frustration because despite never having met the woman Mark already disliked her.

"She was right Mark" Lexie argued as she struggled to free herself from Mark's embrace, "I've spent so much time concentrating on the Intern program…concentrating on us that I completely forgot about my father" Lexie tried to reason with Mark.

Mark reluctantly let go of Lexie and sat up, "what happened to all that crap about you being tired of looking after him, of you wanting be the one who got taken care of…"

"I know Mark" Lexie cut him off with a soothing voice, hoping that it would calm him down. "But he's my father, and I'm the only family that he has…at least if I'm living at home then I can keep a better eye on him".

Mark shook his head as he sighed in defeat, "I don't like it, I don't like it one little bit. But if it's what you want, what you feel like you really have to do then I'll support you" Mark agreed reluctantly.

Lexie sighed in relief but now came the even harder part, "there's one more thing" Lexie replied nervously. "Considering my father's feelings towards surgeons…and well after tonight, I…I think it might be best if we just keep our distance…"

"Are you breaking up with me?" Mark asked in disbelief while the fear and panic slowly began to consume him. Here he was picturing a forever with this woman and she was already starting to push him out the door.

"No, no, no" Lexie frantically tried to reassure Mark, "I just mean…what I meant was that it's probably better that I concentrate on being at home with dad for a while. So maybe we could adjust a little, you know confine things to the hospital" Lexie suggested sheepishly.

Mark scoffed in disbelief as he quickly turned the light on and began searching for his clothes, "I'm sorry to disappoint you little Grey but I'm not looking for a part-time girlfriend, and I'm sure as hell not about to got back to being the man whore who only sleeps with woman in the on-call room" Mark argued angrily while getting dressed.

"Mark" Lexie softly protested; that wasn't what she was trying to suggest at all.

"Look I can stand around and try to be the supportive boyfriend that you need me to be, but I refuse to be the guy who gets pushed to the back of the line" Mark announced before grabbing his boots and storming out of the room.

Lexie flopped back down onto the bed and curled herself up into a ball, trying really hard not to cry and to not feel like Mark was doing exactly what she had feared…trying to convince herself that he wasn't running away.

************

**Reviews would be gratefully appreciated :P**


	6. Chapter 6

**Thanks to everyone who has reviewed this story so far, just to let you know this chapter takes off after the season finale with a bit of tweaking to it. I**** just ****and I mean literally just, as in last night, watched the season finale of Greys because that's when it aired here in Australia. And while I loved it and it sent a chill down my spine I wasn't ok with the ways things had gone down with Mark and Lexie so I improvised…hope you all enjoy and please let me know what you think.**

**Chapter 6  
**

************

It had been nearly a week since Lexie had moved back home with her dad and Mark wasn't the only one who was furious with her decision. Even Meredith was giving Lexie the silent treatment in the hopes of torturing her into submission, which would force Lexie come home.

_One week…_one whole week Lexie had been living at home, putting up with Thatcher's drunken behaviour and the man still hadn't even tried once to seek help for his drinking. Lexie knew that she should have seen that as a sign, but there was still this crazy part of her brain that was hoping for a miracle.

But what killed Lexie the most was the way that Mark had been behaving towards her, when she had made the suggestion of staying away from each other outside the hospital breaking up had never even crossed her mind.

Unfortunately for Lexie Mark was behaving like that was exactly what she had done, what with trying to avoid her when ever it was possible and if it wasn't he was rather cold and distant towards her…only referring to her as Dr. Grey, she wasn't even _little Grey_ anymore.

Lexie had tried to make Mark understand, tried to make him understand that she was still crazy about him and wanted to be with him but Mark wouldn't hear it.

She had put her relationship with Mark on the line for the sake of her father's health and yet again Lexie found herself inside the hospital in search of a doctor as a patient.

"I'll just go and find Sloan" Dr. Bailey announced as she made her way over to the door and in search of Mark.

"Thankyou" Lexie answered sheepishly, she was supposed to be off tonight...before Lexie's night off consisted of lazing around Meredith's house or the hotel room while waiting for Mark to finish his shift.

But now it consisted of her sneaking through the hospital corridors, making sure that none of her fellow Interns or Attendings saw the bruised eye or the cut cheek…and that was only when she wasn't tending to a drunken Thatcher or being called out to random bars to pick him up.

************

Dr. Bailey rubbed her eyes in exhaustion as she searched the hallways for Mark, she didn't need to ask Lexie how she had managed to get the black eye or the cut on her cheek…they both knew how it got there.

Dr. Bailey also didn't need to be a genius to know that the minute Mark saw Lexie's face he'd too know how she sustained those injuries.

Dr. Bailey shook her head in disbelief; she knew that the girl was trying to do the right thing by her father but what Lexie Grey was doing was damn right insane. She was literally throwing her body on the line to help him get sober and as far as Dr. Bailey could see the man didn't want any help.

"Dr. Sloan" Dr. Bailey called out to get his attention before he managed to slip away from the nurses' station.

"Dr. Bailey" Mark greeted her while keeping his eyes focused on the file in front of him.

"Uh, Dr. Sloan I was wondering if you had a moment for a consult…it's pretty important this consult, I uh, I think you need to be the one to perform this consult" Dr. Bailey stammered rather vaguely.

She was nervous because she knew that Mark would be furious and possibly even refuse to do the consult if Dr. Bailey explained to him who the consult was for exactly and why.

"I just have to cheek on a patient in post-op and then I'll come do your consult Dr. Bailey" Mark answered, Dr. Bailey's weird behaviour going completely unnoticed by Mark.

"Thank you Dr. Sloan, the patient is in exam room 304" Dr. Bailey explained before quickly heading back towards Lexie's direction.

Dr. Bailey shook her head, dealing with drunken fathers and battered Interns was not something that she should have to be dealing with…she had Pead's fellowship programs and General surgery to worry about, along with deciding whether or not she was ready to become a single mother.

************

"Dr. Sloan is on his way" Dr. Bailey announced as she slipped back into the room and stood off to the side, trying not to judge the situation.

Dr. Bailey was really trying hard not to sigh in disappointment at Lexie; that damn girl was refusing to see how dangerous the situation had really become where her father was concerned.

"Please, please just don't say anything" Lexie begged Dr. Bailey; she could tell what Dr. Bailey was thinking just by looking at her.

"Dr. Bailey you needed me for a consult…" Mark began to say as he walked through the door but froze as soon as he spotted Lexie with the black eye and cut cheek.

Seeing the wounds on Lexie's face and knowing exactly how they got there made Mark's heart stop beating. He felt sick to his stomach knowing that her own father had done that to her, but more importantly he felt sick because he hadn't been there to protect her.

"I've already examined Dr. Grey's eye and cheek and the x-rays came back clear and there aren't any broken bones…I uh, I just thought that you'd want to be the one to attend to the cut on Dr. Grey's face" Dr. Bailey announced.

"Thank you Dr. Bailey" Mark answered without taking his eyes away from Lexie.

"Well I'm um, I'm just gonna leave you two to it then" Dr. Bailey spoke nervously before excusing herself from the room.

Mark silently sat down and began to tend to Lexie's cut, he could feel the skin on his knuckles gently brush against Lexie's cheek as he sutchered her face…it sent a shiver down his spine.

That sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach was slowly being replaced by a sense of anger. He was pissed off at the fact that the only reason he even got to touch his girlfriend's skin for the first time in a whole week was because her drunken father had decided to use her as a punching bag.

"You're not going to ask?" Lexie asked awkwardly, she was desperate for Mark to say some thing…hell she'd take yelling over silence because at least that meant he still cared about her.

"What's there to ask, we both know how this happened" Mark answered, trying to keep all sense of emotion out of his voice along with a blank look on his face.

"Mark" Lexie whispered as she reached out so she could run her finger down the side of his cheek, she just wanted feel his skin again.

Mark quickly pulled away and turned around in search of a bandage to cover the cut on her cheek. If he had to get used to not being be with her, to not be able to feel her against him whenever he wanted then he sure as hell wasn't going to torture himself.

"Keep the wound clean for the next forty eight hours and just watch over it, if you see any signs of an infection come and see me" Mark explained while acting very professional, as though Lexie was just another patient and not the woman he was in love with.

Mark jumped up from his seat and stormed out of the room before he caved and did something he wasn't proud of like begging. Mark Sloan didn't beg and if Lexie wanted out for her father's sake then he wasn't going to stop her.

It had killed him being so close yet so far away from Lexie over the last week but it was what _she _wanted, he just didn't have to like it.

At first Mark was just mad at the fact that it meant he couldn't actually get a good night's sleep because he had become so dependent on Lexie for that to happen. But now it was more than that, it was the fact that there was this huge distance between them and Mark had no idea how to fix it.

He had this nagging feeling in his gut telling him not to leave things this way, telling him that they needed to actually talk this out for his own sanity...and if worse comes to worse, make a clean break for both their sakes.

Mark turned on his heel and quickly walked back into the room.

"I can't do this anymore" Mark announced while leaning against the closed door.

"Mark…"

"I can't just stand aside and watch you take hit after hit from that bastard and pretend like nothing has happened. Lexie you've already needed Torres to take a look at your wrist and now Dr. Bailey for your face, what the hell is it going to take for you to realise that he's not going to change…are you trying to get yourself killed? Do you seriously have some kind of death wish because if you do it would probably be a lot easier and less painful if you just threw yourself in front of a bus" Mark exclaimed, no longer able to keep his anger in check.

Lexie cringed as Mark sent a barrage of words towards her, she knew that in part Mark was right but it still didn't make it hurt any less. "Mark he's my father…"

"And you're all he has, blah, blah, blah" Mark cut her off, "I've already heard all that crap Lexie". Mark shook his head in utter loss while he ran a hand through his hair, "I'm a Plastic surgeon Lexie and I've lost count of how many faces I've had to reconstruct because a wife or a daughter refuses to walk away from an alcoholic" Mark explained.

"That's not…"

"Don't kid yourself Lexie, don't sit there and tell me that that's not you…don't tell me that the next the time you come in here won't be on the back of an ambulance and that you're not gonna need me to perform surgery to fix what he's done" Mark argued with a clenched jaw.

He couldn't understand why she was refusing see the reality of the situation for what it really was, why she was being stubborn.

Lexie swallowed the lump in her throat, "what are you trying to say?" Lexie asked hesitantly. She could already tell where Mark was going with this, but she was desperately praying that she was wrong.

"I'm saying that you have to choose Lexie, it's me or him" Mark announced with a blank look on his face, "because I can't do this anymore. I can't watch you willingly hurt yourself for a man that doesn't want help".

Lexie could also slowly begin to feel the anger eat away at her; she was pissed at her father for ruining her life like this. She was pissed at Molly for making her feel guilty for the way she had been handling things, but more importantly she was pissed that she had to choose between Mark and her dad.

"You can't honestly expect me to choose? What happened to you not running, to you wanting to help me through this" Lexie retorted in anger, at that moment Mark was the only one that she could really lash out at.

"You can't honestly expect me to be ok with this because I'm not; I'm not ok in any single way, shape or form with the idea of the woman I love being physically attacked and you've made it perfectly clear that I have no say in any of this" Mark argued back. "Yes he's your father Lexie I get that, but there comes a point where you have to say enough is enough, where you have to just accept defeat and realise that he's never going to change…and for your information there's a difference between running and walking away. I'm not running because I'm scared, I'm walking away because a man can only take so much".

Lexie had some real witty comeback planned but the moment Mark said those words her mind went blank, "you love me?" Lexie asked in shock.

That had been the last thing she was expecting Mark to say.

Mark closed his eyes as he tried to concentrate on calming himself down, he was already worked up and this would only add to his level of stress and probably give him a heart attack.

"That's not the point" Mark pointed out, hoping to steer Lexie away from that topic because if things were about to go south for them declaring his love for her was the last thing Mark wanted to be doing.

"You said you loved me" Lexie pushed, she couldn't help but feel a slight sense of giddiness build up inside of her.

"Yeah and you said that we were worth it, so I guess we both said things that we didn't mean" Mark argued, deciding that if Lexie wasn't going to let this drop then he'd become defensive about it.

"Mark…"

"Lexie I might be willing to revisit this conversation _if _you tell me that you choose me, that you're going to pack your things and move back into Meredith's and that you're going to let your father deal with his own mess" Mark tried to reason with Lexie.

"Mark he lost the love of his life, it's not something that you can just get over…my mother died of the hiccups, my mother still had so much time left with him" Lexie argued, she was slowly beginning to feel like they were going around I circles.

Mark threw his hands up in the air in disbelief, "he's not the only one Lexie; he's not the only one to have the person he loves cruelly ripped away from him in a short time. I mean look at Mrs. Shepherd, she only got _sixteen years_ with Mr. Shepherd before he was killed…she didn't turn into a drunk, she didn't let her entire world fall to pieces or let her children suffer because of it. So don't you dare try and use that as an excuse" Mark growled.

Lexie sighed in defeat, "we're never going to agree on this" Lexie announced.

"Well then I guess you've made your decision" Mark pointed out as he studied every single feature on Lexie's face because he knew that this would be the last time he would get to look at her.

Mark was trying to look as calm as possible, as though breaking up with Lexie would have no affect on him what so ever. But the truth was it was killing him, deep down inside all Mark wanted to do was to crawl into a rock somewhere and hide.

Lexie tried to look at anything else but Mark because it hurt to hear him say those words; it felt as though someone was literally pulling her heart out of her chest. And she wasn't sure that she could survive this if she saw the wounded look on Mark's face.

"Well then I guess…I uh, I hope you have a nice life Dr. Grey" Mark announced coldly before storming out of the room.

As soon as the door slammed shut Lexie finally let herself cry, she could feel the moist tears seeping through the bandage on her face but she didn't care. All that matter was that Mark was gone, she let him walk out the door and now there wasn't anything she could do about it.

Lexie was slowly beginning to work herself up to the point where she couldn't breathe properly and the pain was so bad that her chest was hurting.

In that moment Dr. Bailey walked back into the room and saw the sobs of tears pouring out of Lexie's eyes, she quickly walked over to Lexie and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"I just ran into Sloan and he said that you might need someone to talk to" Dr. Bailey softly whispered an answer to Lexie's unspoken question while pulling the Intern closer towards her.

Burying her face into Dr. Bailey's shoulder Lexie cried harder while shaking her head, the pain was hurting so much that Lexie thought that it would literally kill her. This, having Mark Sloan brake up with her and walk away hurt even more than it did to say goodbye to her mother.

Holding her as Lexie continued to cry Dr. Bailey tightened her grip in the hopes of calming Lexie down, looking down at the top of Lexie's head Dr. Bailey sighed.

"I hope you know what you're doing?" Dr. Bailey whispered, to which Lexie's only reply was a shake of her head.

She didn't, Lexie really didn't have a clue what she was doing, all she did know was that she had just let the man she loves walk out the door and all for the sake of her father.

************

Meredith sat down on a chair in the hospital lobby, she couldn't believe what had just happened and she felt numb inside…George was John Doe, George O'Malley had thrown himself in front of a bus to save a stranger…George was dead.

Just as Lexie was about to make her way out of the hospital she spotted Meredith out of the corner of her eye sitting on a chair, Meredith was stairing out the window but had a blank look on her face…almost a though she was in another world.

"Meredith" Lexie whispered softly as she sat down beside her sister, sitting down next to her Lexie could see that Meredith looked like she was about to be sick.

Her face was as white as a ghost and she was shaking, Lexie could even see a few traces of tears in her eyes.

Meredith looked up at Lexie and seeing the bruise that was beginning to form on around her eye was just another kick to the gut as far as Meredith was concerned. Everyone she loved today seemed to be dying or getting hurt in some way and it made Meredith feel like she was losing control.

The exhausted and defeated look on Lexie's face told Meredith that she didn't need another lecture, besides Mark had already informed Derek who inturn told Meredith what had happened.

"He broke up with me" Lexie whispered in a croaky voice as she turned to look out the same window that Meredith was watching. She was terrified that if she even tried to speak any louder that the pain of it would make her start to cry again.

"It's George" Meredith announced in a hoarse voice without even thinking, her throat was raw from all the screaming and all the crying she had done since Owen had called time of death.

"It's George" Lexie repeated with a hint of caution, because she could see the desperate look on Meredith's face for someone to listen to her right now.

Lexie wasn't sure what Meredith was trying to tell her, but she welcomed the distraction.

"It's George, John Does is…_was_ George" Meredith corrected herself; she had a pleading look in her eyes for Lexie to believe her. To believe that Meredith wasn't going crazy and that she hadn't made it all up in her head.

Lexie felt her heart stop as she saw the red rings around Meredith's eyes from crying so much, something she had never seen Meredith do before. She could even see the pain and the guilt that had been eating Meredith up on the inside reflected in her eyes.

"But…but Dr. Hunt, he called…." Lexie stammered in disbelief, she couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"He called time of death" Meredith whispered, the moment that John Doe had been pronounced dead word spread around the hospital like wildfire. As far as most of the staff at Seattle Grace was concerned he had died a dero, he had save a complete stranger and for that he'd always be remembered.

Suddenly Lexie felt numb all over, her entire body felt like it was made of lead and just moving her arm took far too much effort. Between losing Mark and losing George all in one day Lexie felt like she was being split in half, that pain in her chest she had felt earlier before was quickly creeping its way back in.

"George is dead" Meredith finally managed to announce in a shaky voice while she held onto Lexie's hand so tightly that her knuckles were beginning to turn white.

It had been the first time that Meredith had said those words out loud to anyone; Meredith had been avoiding it because she thought that if she didn't say it then it wouldn't be true.

But it was; George O'Malley had died saving a complete stranger and there was no way Meredith could deny it or hide from it any longer.

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Derek stood off to the side of the lobby watching Meredith and Lexie closely, he had been standing there for the last ten minutes and neither one of them had moved or even said a word.

He wasn't sure whether to be concerned or relieved that Meredith had chosen this exact moment to turn to her sister for support, but at the end of the day who was holding whose hand wasn't what mattered.

Besides Derek also knew that after everything that had happened today Lexie and Meredith needed each other.

"What are you doing?" Mark asked with a frown on his face as he stood next to Derek.

Derek didn't answer him; instead he raised a finger and pointed over towards Lexie and Meredith who were still holding hands.

Mark looked over in the direction Derek had been pointing towards and then back to his best friend. He had a concerned look on his face because he knew that George O'Malley had been an important person in Lexie's life.

The minute he heard that Hunt had called time of death on George Mark wanted to go to Lexie, he wanted to be the one to comfort her as she cried for the loss of her friend.

But he couldn't, he couldn't do it because it meant being around her…it mean holding her in his arms and telling her that everything would be ok when he knew that it wouldn't be.

Combining their break-up with O'Malley's death and along with her dad's drinking Mark was terrified that Lexie wouldn't be able to handle this all alone. But as he watched Meredith and Lexie sit side by side as they held hands Mark felt like he could breathe a little bit easier.

Mark really wanted to forget about today, he wanted to forget about what had officially become the worse day of his entire life. Mark had never hated hospitals as much as he did at that very second.

Mark began to walk away from Derek but was suddenly pulled back by Derek who was holding onto the back of Mark's leather jacket in his fist, as Mark looked over his shoulder he saw the disapproving look on Derek's face.

"Where are you going?" Derek hissed, trying really hard not to take his anger out on Mark because the last time he had done that they ended up in a fist fight. And right now that was the last thing that anybody needed to be dealing with on top of everything else.

Mark furrowed his brow in Derek's direction, "I'm going home" Mark answered casually. Trying to play dumb and pretend like he had no idea why Derek was asking that kind of question.

"She needs you right now Mark…one of her closest friends just died, she needs you" Derek argued through gritted teeth.

Mark gently pulled out of Derek's grasp and shook his head, "she has big Grey…"

"She needs _you_" Derek repeated while shaking his head at Mark, he knew what Mark was doing. He could see that Mark was trying to keep his distance to make this break-up, which Derek had to respect, easier on himself.

"She had me…Derek she had me but she chose her father and I made it clear to her that I couldn't stand by that decision. If I go over there then I'd be giving her some sense of false hope and I won't do that to her" Mark explained with a solemn look on his face before walking away.

Derek sighed in exhaustion, he knew that Mark was trying to do the right thing here but that didn't mean that he had to like it. He could see how much Mark loved Lexie, and he could see how much this was hurting Mark.

He didn't need to be a brain surgeon to know all of this, he just had to be the best friend who saw Mark fall in love only for it to completely fall apart.

************

Meredith saw out of the corner of her eye Mark and Derek talking to each other before Mark abruptly walked away from his best friend with a hurt look on his face.

Looking back at Lexie and the vacant look on her sister's face Meredith squeezed her hand to try and get Lexie's attention, "I'll be right back" Meredith told her and quickly walked over to Derek.

"Where did Mark go?" Meredith asked with a concerned look on her face, she knew that Lexie needed him right now.

"He went home" Derek answered as he concentrated on Lexie who had her head in her hands.

"Home" Meredith repeated hesitantly, silently asking Derek which home that was exactly.

"Back to the hotel" Derek clarified, knowing instantly what Meredith had been asking.

Derek sighed as he finally looked away from Lexie and over to Meredith, wrapping his arms around Meredith's waist Derek pulled her in closer. "Some wedding day huh" Derek pointed out with a hint of bitterness to it, their day would now always be a constant reminder that George had died.

Meredith shrugged her shoulders because she really couldn't bring herself to say anything to answer him, "I want Lexie to come home with us. She needs family, she needs to be around people who lover her….not running around taking care of that drunk she considers a father" Meredith informed Derek.

Derek couldn't help but smile faintly at Meredith's over protectiveness of Lexie, Meredith really had evolved…she had become a woman that Derek was proud of, "ok" Derek agreed without a second thought.

"Lexie" Meredith called out and waved her hand over so that Lexie would make her way over to them.

Lexie immediately joined Meredith and Derek, but before she even had a chance to ask them what was going on Meredith jumped in before her.

"I think it's important to take the time to tell the people you love how much you love them while they can hear you. I love you Lexie Grey" Meredith declared with a smile on her face.

Pulling back from Derek Meredith walked over to Lexie and engulfed her sister in a bear hug, Lexie couldn't help but smile as she returned the hug. For the first time in a whole week Lexie actually felt like she had someone in her corner, someone she could depend on.

"Come on lets go home" Meredith suggested while wrapping an arm around Lexie's shoulder and guiding her towards the entrance.

Derek smiled as he trailed behind the two Grey's; wondering when it was that Meredith had grown up and became the woman that they all depended on.

Lexie allowed herself to be ordered around by Meredith because she didn't have the energy to fight her. The past week had only seemed to reinforce what Lexie had slowly begun to learn. Plans suck, they never work out the way you want them to and as hard as you might you can never stop what's coming…no matter how much you might want to.

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**Reviews would be gratefully appreciated :P**


	7. Chapter 7

**Ok this doesn't really have much Lexie and Mark in it so I'm warning you, but before you stop reading I'd just like to say that this my way of farewelling George. At first I had no intentions of even writing this but then when I began writing my next chapter it didn't feel right.**

**I thought that he deserved a proper farewell so I hope that this is as respectful as I had hoped it would be, and for those of you who may feel that what I have written is terrible then I am sorry…and remember reviews are welcomed.**

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**Chapter 7**

It was almost as though the world was playing a cruel joke on all of them, it was a beautifully bright and sunny Wednesday morning with a clear blue sky…it was the perfect day to just laze around or got to the park.

No one would have guessed, no one would have thought that on a day like today that a life would be farewelled…that on a day like this Dr. George Harrison O'Malley would be buried.

It had been fours days since Owen Hunt had called time of death, and now the surgical staff of Seattle Grace found themselves gathered around a grave to farewell a man that they all knew, loved or respected in one way or another.

Lexie had dreaded coming here but she knew that she had to, she needed to find a way to make peace with the fact that she had lost someone who was once the only friend she had inside the walls of the hospital.

Izzie sat in a wheelchair beside Louise O'Malley while Alex stood behind her with a comforting hand on her shoulder. Izzie was forced to constantly close her eyes and take a moment to remember to breath as she sat there stairing at the coffin covered in red roses.

Izzie wouldn't voice it out loud, because she knew that Alex would lose it, but Izzie couldn't help but keep thinking that it should have been her. The she should have been the one that they had all gathered to say goodbye to.

Alex and Derek had both tried to convince her not to go; Alex had been worried that after what she had been through Izzie wouldn't be able to handle it, but Izzie refused.

Izzie screamed at the both of them, telling them that there was no way in hell that she was going to let cancer stop her from saying good bye to her best friend…Meredith had finally put an end to the discussion.

No one even thought about making that suggestion to Izzie again or else they'd have to face Meredith, and an angry Meredith could be quite scary.

Meredith, Cristina and Lexie all stood in a row opposite Izzie and Mrs. O'Malley. With Meredith in the middle she held on tightly to Cristina and Lexie's hand, she was afraid to let go…afraid that she would lose another person.

Derek stood behind Meredith, just like Owen and Mark were standing behind Cristina and Lexie, while leaving a bit of a distance between them so that the girls could lean on each other.

Mark was standing further back from Lexie than either Owen or Derek were, the minute he had seen Lexie arrive with Meredith and Derek it was plain as day to him that she had been crying.

He wanted to go to her, he wanted to hold her hand and tell her that he was sorry…to wipe away her tears and tell her that he loved her no matter what.

But he couldn't, he couldn't do it as long as she was refusing to see the truth about her father.

The men all stood there dressed up in their black suits, only Alex and Mark were both wearing sunglasses to hide their eyes. They didn't want anyone to see that despite all the teasing and all the mocking George O'Malley had actually meant something to them…that they _would _actually miss the guy.

Dr. Bailey stood by the chief while looking like she was just about ready to crawl out of her own skin; this was George O'Malley after all.

This was the man that she had taught and nurtured into the fine Resident he had become, this was the man who had held her hand while she brought her little boy into the world…this was the man who chose _her _to be the first person he told that he had enlisted into the army.

Callie stood off to the side next to Mark while holding tightly on to Arizona's hand, at that very moment she needed a rock to keep her together and she couldn't think of anyone else besides Mark for that job. A part of her still couldn't believe that the man she once loved, the man that she had once been married to was gone.

None of them had really been listening to what the priest had been saying, each of them was far too preoccupied with their own thoughts…thinking, wondering, and remembering what the last conversation they had had with George was really about.

Was it important, were they kind and attentive or were they short and abrupt with him…did they listen, did they even care what it was he had to say?

That's the funny thing about death, when you lose someone you don't just find yourself realising how much that person really meant to you or how much you're going to miss them…you start to think back on it all, you start to wonder whether or not you were the kind of person that they had been proud to have in their life.

You ask yourself if you could have done anything different, would it have mattered…would it have made them care more about you, or would you have cared more about them?

That's the thing about death, it's doesn't just mess up the future, it also messes with your past.

It changes who you once were and who you will be.

"Would anyone like to say a few words?" the priest asked softly and kindly.

The O'Malley's were far too upset to be able to string a sentence together so Mrs. O'Malley silently but kindly declined the priests offer.

Izzie looked around and saw that no one was up to speaking but she refused to let George go without at least a few words from someone who he had cared for.

It took all her strength, both physically and emotionally, but Izzie began to wheel herself over towards the priest when Alex suddenly grabbed the handle bars of the wheelchair.

"Izz" Alex whispered into her ear hesitantly.

"Alex you can either help me get up their or you can stand back, but either way I' m doing this" Izzie ordered her husband with a stern look on her face.

Alex solemnly nodded his head and helped Izzie up to the top of the grave; they both remained up their while Izzie thought about what it was she wanted to say.

Izzie looked around at all the faces of the people who come to farewell George; it had been a simple service which had only consisted of George's mom and brothers along with the Residents and Attendings of Seattle Grace, Lexie being the only Intern allowed to attend.

Mrs. O'Malley had reassured all of them that this was exactly how George would have wanted it; he wouldn't have wanted everybody making a fuss over him.

"We'd all like to think" Izzie began to say in a croaky voice, she paused as she closed her eyes to pull herself together and clear her throat.

"You think you'd do it, step in front of a bus for a perfect stranger. We all like to think that we would but...but the truth is we wouldn't, we wouldn't step in front of a bus to save a stranger because" Izzie paused for a second, "because we're human" she announced.

"And if being a Resident teaches you anything it's that we can be pretty selfish, I mean what it all boils down to is self preservation. We do whatever it is we have to do" Izzie spoke before looking at Cristina. "Whether it's to be the top of the class", she then looked at Derek, "or to develop the latest cutting edge medical treatments available…we do what we have to do to survive, to be the best…but not George" Izzie whispered as she closed her eyes.

If she tried to block everything out, try to numb the pain and to focus on picturing George, it was almost as though Izzie could feel him. She could feel George close by, telling her not to give up…telling her that everything would be ok.

Izzie slowly opened her eyes and took a deep breath, "George wanted to be the best, he wanted to be the best surgeon that _he _could be…not the kind of surgeon that everyone else thought he should be. He never gave up on being a better doctor and he refused to step on other people to do it, I think that we'd all be lucky to be half the kind of surgeon that Dr. George O'Malley had been" Izzie spoke as she finally felt a tear slide down her cheek.

"George may felt a little bit lost, he may still not have known what he wanted out of being a surgeon and he may not have had the most dazzling skill inside the O.R…but he did have principals and he refused to compromise those in order to find himself".

Izzie paused as she stared off into thin air while she thought about everything that made George who he was.

"It wasn't just about the scalpel" Izzie announced with a far off look on her face, "it was about the face behind the patient, it was about the patient's story…it wasn't just about getting the chance to hold a scalpel in his hand. There are surgeons who go through their whole medical career and they never figure that part out, but George did…to some of you he was still a baby trying to find his way through a grown up world, but deep down I think we were the babies and George…George was the adult" Izzie whispered before finally turning her head to look down at the coffin that laid beside her.

As Izzie gazed around she could see that while Mrs. O'Malley's eyes were flooded with sobs of tears she was grateful to have someone say a few words about her son when she couldn't. She could see that Meredith and Cristina and were barely hanging on by a thread and that Lexie had suddenly retreated into herself.

Izzie looked back at the coffin that encased her best friend; carefully wheeling herself closer to it Izzie laid the palm of her hand onto it. "You made a difference, you made people care and for that you will never be forgotten…we will all miss you Dr. George O'Malley" Izzie whispered softly before turning her head.

She silently gave Alex a nod of her head, so Alex solemnly began to wheel Izzie away from George's coffin.

As the coffin slowly began it's descent into the ground everyone slowly began to migrate towards each other, huddled in a circle, Lexie looked around and could see the impact that George had had on everyone…the way that he had touched all of them.

Without even saying a word there was a silent understanding between everyone who worked at Seattle Grace that being at home, being alone, was the last thing that any of them wanted right now.

They needed to be busy, and they needed to be kept busy…right now the hospital was the only place that any of them wanted to be.

As they all slowly made their way over towards their cars, ready to get in and get back to the hospital, Meredith called out to Mark and Derek who were ahead of her.

Mark and Derek both turned to see what Meredith had called out about; their eyes were drawn to the same thing that Meredith was looking at.

Lexie stood by the open grave with a single sunflower in her hand, it had been her mom's favourite and she had held onto it through out the service.

Mark stood there watching Lexie for about a second before he quickly made his way past Meredith and headed over towards Lexie.

Derek walked over to Meredith and guided her back towards the car, "Mark will take care of her" Derek reassured Meredith before giving her a kiss on her temple.

Mark didn't care anymore about the ultimatum he had given Lexie or about the fact that they had broken up. All he cared about was the fact that Lexie had a look of complete devastation on her face, she was hurting and she needed someone to hold her.

"Lex" Mark called out in a soft voice as he came up beside her; Lexie wasn't the only one who needed someone right now.

Lexie nodded her head as she looked down at the flower in her hand and then down into the grave. Without even thinking Lexie took a step closer to Mark and wrapped her arm around his waist.

She needed to feel something other than pain or grief because she had done that…she had been doing that for nearly the last year.

To her own surprise Mark didn't pull away from her, in fact he did the complete opposite. Mark tightened his grip around Lexie's waist while wrapping his other arm around her, pulling her against him Mark kissed Lexie on the top of her head as she buried her face into his chest and finally allowed herself to cry.

Derek and Meredith leant against his car as they waited for Mark and Lexie, Meredith turned to Derek with a faint smile on her face, something she hadn't done in a few days.

"I think they're going to be ok" Meredith announced with a smile on her face and the sound of conviction in her voice.

Derek nodded his head with a smile, he was proud of the fact that Mark had let go of their problems that he and Lexie were having for the sake of comforting her.

Mark and Lexie stood like that for a few minutes before Lexie pulled away and wiped her red eyes, "I ruined your shirt" Lexie pointed out as she pointed to the tear stains and patches of smudged eyeliner.

Mark solemnly shook his head, "The shirt's replaceable" Mark reassured her.

Lexie smiled before turning her attention back to the grave. "It mattered" Lexie announced while twirling the flower in her fingers, "you mattered George" Lexie whispered before dropping the flower into the grave.

"Ready" Mark asked softly while holding his hand out to Lexie.

"I think so" Lexie answered with a shaky voice as she took Mark's hand and squeezed it tightly before he led her back towards Meredith and Derek.

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**Reviews would be gratefully appreciated :P**


	8. Chapter 8

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**Chapter 8**

"Dr. Hunt you paged" Dr. Bailey asked with a monotonous tone in her voice.

"I didn't know who else to page" Owen tried to explain while pointing over towards his reason for bothering the Resident.

Dr. Bailey turned her head to the direction that Owen was pointing at, uncontrollably Dr. Bailey let out a groan as she shook her head in disappointment. "She does not need this…_they _do not need this, not today, not when they just buried their friend" Dr. Bailey protested.

"I know" Owen immediately agreed with her.

"Is he drunk?" Dr. Bailey asked despite knowing that it was a silly question.

"He smells like a distillery" Dr. Hunt informed her with a disturbed look on his face, thinking that _nobody _should ever drink that much. "Apparently he got into a fight with some guy at a bar, the barman called the cops and the cops brought them here" Owen went on further to explain.

"Where's the other damn fool?" Dr. Bailey asked in annoyance, patching up drunks wasn't something she wanted to be doing today either.

"Dr. Torres is taking care of him" Owen answered the Resident with a sombre look on his face.

Dr. Bailey sighed in defeat because she knew that it was inevitable, she knew that she needed to page Lexie whether she liked it or not. "Page Dr. Grey" Dr. Bailey ordered as she began to make her way over to Thatcher.

"Who's Grey?" Owen called out with a frown on his face.

Dr. Bailey stopped in her tracks and turned on her heel, "what did you just ask me?" she asked with a crept out look on her face.

"I um, I just meant which Grey did you want me to page? Am I supposed to page Shepherd's Grey or Sloan's Grey?" Owen stuttered while Miranda kept looking him up and down.

"_Dr. Grey_" Dr. Bailey emphasised, "whether it be either one are neither Shepherd's nor Sloan's. They aren't a piece of meat that those two damn Attendings think they can claim" Dr. Bailey informed Dr. Hunt with a disturbed look on her face.

"Yes mam" Owen quickly agreed, not wanting to be on Dr. Bailey's bad side.

"Good, now please page Dr. _Lexie _Grey" Dr. Bailey requested more specifically before walking over to Thatcher.

Owen didn't need to be told twice and quickly he paged Lexie; it was suddenly beginning to make sense to him. Why Dr. Sloan had been acting weird over the last few days, why Lexie had shown up to work with a bruised wrist or bandaged cheek.

Owen had seen it all before, he'd had his fair share of men turning to the booze because they couldn't handle being back from the war.

"Dr. Hunt" Lexie called out with a faint smile on her face, there really wasn't anything to smile about but Lexie had been trying to keep up a positive attitude.

With most of the day worked away, the time had flown by since they had left the funeral and returned to the hospital, neither Lexie nor Mark wanted to talk about what had happened.

They both seemed content with pretending like it had never happened, especially Lexie.

Having Mark hold her like that had been the first time that she had felt safe and protected since she had moved out of Meredith's house, but nobody else needed to know that.

She didn't want to discuss what had happened earlier because she knew that she would let herself get all excited and read way too much into it, only then to have her feelings hurt again.

"Yeah, uh…Dr. Bailey asked me to page you" Owen explained with a sympathetic look on his face. "I'm so sorry" Owen whispered before pointing over at Lexie's father and Dr. Bailey who was trying to help a very uncooperative Thatcher.

Lexie turned, she felt like her entire body suddenly turned cold as she watched her _drunken _father fight with Dr. Bailey.

In that moment everything that Lexie had been trying to block out…all the pain, the grief, the denial and the anger suddenly came flooding to the surface.

"Dr. Grey" Owen called out to her as he watched Lexie run down the hallway like a mad woman, trying to run as far away from the emergency room as possible.

"Where did she go" Dr. Bailey asked, suddenly appearing out of no where.

Owen jumped at the sudden sound of Dr. Bailey's voice, "I don't know" he answered while shaking his head. "I'm gonna go try and find her" Owen informed Dr. Bailey before quickly running down the same hallway that Lexie had run through.

Dr. Bailey shook her head; she didn't have the energy or the strength to deal with this so instead she barked at the nearest Intern. Telling him to patch up Mr. Grey and that if he even thought about whispering a single word of this to any of the other Interns than a failed medical career wasn't the only thing that he'd have to worry about.

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Owen had searched every where until he finally found Lexie sitting on a bench outside of the hospital with her legs folded against her chest.

A shiver ran down his spine as the cool air brushed up against the back of his neck, it was a dark contrast to this morning. While that morning had been bright and sunny the entire sky was now covered in dark clouds as it blocked out all the sun and rained.

"How long" Owen asked as he sat down beside Lexie with a forlorn look on his face.

"Dr. Hunt I don't mean to be rude but I've heard this speech about a million times already…and I'm just so sick of it" Lexie whispered while running her hands through her hair.

"He couldn't even give me _one _day…not even one day of being sober, or at least long enough for me to be able to say good bye to George" Lexie spat out, full of resentment.

Owen really didn't know what to say Lexie; he was the last person to be counselling someone on their problems. "I wish I could tell you that it gets easier, that the problems just magically disappear but they don't. You have to be willing to admit that there's a problem, you have to want to change…"

"But he doesn't" Lexie jumped in, "he _likes _being the man he is and I don't think he can change anymore" Lexie admitted with glassy eyes, trying really hard not to cry in front of Hunt.

"Don't say that" Owen begged, it was almost as though Lexie's words were a personal attack on him…as though she was telling the trauma surgeon that _he _couldn't change.

Lexie sighed as she dropped her legs to the ground and began running her hands up and down her thighs as the coldness suddenly hit her. "You know this morning when I told him for…for like the fifth time that I was going to a funeral today he asked me who's it was" Lexie began to say and looked Owen in the eyes.

"When I told him that it was George he looked me in the eye and said to me 'what a shame, I was really hoping that it was Dr. Sloan's" Lexie confessed while gasping for air as she cried.

Instinctively Owen slid across the bench and wrapped an arm around Lexie as she buried her face into his shoulder and began crying.

After a few more tears Lexie pulled herself together and pulled away from Owen, "I mean…what, what kind of father wishes the man his daughter loves dead?" Lexie asked while wiping her eyes.

It hurt Owen to sit here and watch Lexie like this, despite not having really spoken to the Intern or spending much time with her he did know that there was more to Lexie than meets the eye.

Before Owen even had a chance to answer Lexie they were cut off by the sound of Meredith's voice, "hey is everything ok?" Meredith asked while giving Owen a worried look.

"Yeah everything's fine" Lexie tried to reassure Meredith but it was a bit hard when her eyes were red from crying.

"Alright then" Meredith agreed sceptically, "you two need to get back inside. The Chief wants to talk to everyone who was at the funeral today" Meredith explained with a sad look.

Nodding her head Lexie didn't need to be told twice and quickly she walked back into the hospital. Before Owen could move Meredith cut him off with a stern look on her face, silently ordering him to tell her what was really going on.

"Her father was brought in to the Emergency…" Owen began to say but stopped as soon as Meredith held a hand up.

"Stop right there, I really don't need to hear the rest to know that he's drunk" Meredith explained with a disapproving look on her face. "Come on" Meredith ordered before walking back into the hospital, Owen trailing right behind with a confused look.

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As they all sat around the conference table waiting for the Chief Mark tried not to be obvious as he snuck in subtle glances towards Lexie. He could see that she had been crying again, and again he had this urge to walk around to the other side of the room and hold her.

Mark knew that he should probably just tell her that he didn't care what ever choice it was that she had made, that he loved her and that he'd support her no matter what. Because frankly as far as Mark was concerned anything was better than the hell he was going through right now.

Mark was oblivious to the fact that Lexie's tears were over her father and not over George like believed them to be. Lexie had begged Meredith and Owen not to mention anything to Mark, despite Meredith having serious doubts about it.

"Good everyone's here" Richard pointed out as he made his way to the head of the table.

"Where else would we be, you're the one who summoned us" Alex answered sarcastically. He really wasn't in the mood for a little chit chat about feelings and all that crap.

The Chief decided to ignore Alex's comment and looked around at everybody in the room, "I understand why all of you are here today and that you all need to be keeping busy. But let make this clear to you…to _all _of you that I don't want to see a single one of you stepping foot inside this hospital tomorrow _at all_" Richard barked in a commanding voice, clearly telling them all that he wasn't joking.

Derek couldn't help but scoff at the Chief's order, "and then who the hell would be performing all the surgeries?" Derek asked.

Richard shook his head, "don't play smart with me Shepherd, Nelson can cover for you for the day and we have Dr. Riley for Plastics and we can manage without the rest of you" he answered.

"Why do we have to stay away when you're clearly going to be here?" Callie asked in disbelief, staying away from the hospital was the last thing she wanted to be doing right now.

The Chief groaned in frustration as he rubbed his eyes, "because I won't be holding a scalpel in my hand and if any of you did then you'd be a law suit waiting to happen and right now that's the last thing neither I nor this hospital need to be dealing with" Richard barked.

Callie sunk back into her chair with an embarrassed look on her face, but before she or anyone else could say anything or argue with the Chief about his order they were quickly interrupted as the door was swung open and banged against the wall.

"Sir I'm sorry but you're needed in the ER" Olivia announced as she stood in the doorway with a frazzled look on her face.

"What ever it is can wait" the Chief ordered.

Olivia began shaking her head profusely, "no it can't…Mr. Grey just punched one of the Interns and knocked him out cold and now he's fighting with one of Dr. Torres' patients" Olivia explained.

Sighing in defeat Lexie quickly rose from her chair and headed straight for the ER with Owen and Callie following quickly behind her.

"Your dad's here?" Derek asked with a reproachful look on his face.

"And he's drunk" Meredith added before she too left the room.

It didn't take long before Mark jumped up from his seat and also bolted out of the room, the others not far behind. Once Mark finally reached the ER he froze as he watched the scene that was going on in front of him.

While Owen and Callie were trying to pull her patient away from Thatcher, Lexie and Meredith were both tugging on Thatcher's arms as they tried to pull him away as well.

Finally Lexie managed to grab a firm grip on Thatcher's shirt and using all the anger she had bottled up inside of her she pushed him away from Dr. Torres' patient.

"He's nuts, he's insane I tell you….the man is good for nothing, the only thing he knows how to do is keep a bottle of scotch down" the man began shouting in the middle of the ER.

"Ok Mr. Abbots why don't we take a seat" Callie suggested, trying to calm her patient down and closed the curtain around them.

Lexie looked down at her drunken father then over to Intern Steve who was slowly being helped back up onto his feet by Dr. Bailey with a nasty gash his forehead.

Lexie shook her head, she felt like she was being pulled in every way that she didn't no which way to turn. She wanted to scream off the top of her lungs but she was scared at the same time of what Thatcher might do.

"Lex..." Thatcher slurred as he tried to reach out for her.

As he did Lexie quickly took a step back while Mark took a step forward to go to her, Derek held him back. "You'll only make things worse" Derek explained with a pleading look to just sit back for now.

"I…I can't do this anymore" Lexie declared before pushing her way through Alex and Derek so she could escape the madness.

For a drunken man Thatcher was reasonably balanced and reasonably quick because before anyone could stop him the man was already on his feet and following Lexie.

Unfortunately for him Alex and Derek were quick enough and were able to grab him by the arms before he could reach Lexie.

"You ungrateful bitch" Thatcher screamed out so loudly that the entire Emergency room were able to hear him while he struggled to free himself from Alex and Derek.

Lexie froze as she listened to her father call out to her; it had become so common hearing it that the words no longer even meant anything to Lexie. She was quickly beginning to lose any sort of sympathy she may have had for the man, and deep down she was praying that he would do one more thing so that she'd have a reason to walk away.

It took everything inside of Mark not to go right up to the man and take a swing at him but he knew that Lexie wouldn't appreciate it. So instead Mark inched closer towards Derek while he watched Lexie turn on her heel and walk back over to the man she consider to be her father.

"So we must be up to what, drink number 10 maybe 11?" Lexie asked with a look of disdain on her face.

"Don't you dare talk to me like that or I'll…" Thatcher yelled out, he couldn't understand why Lexie was being so cruel to him.

"Or you'll what" Lexie cried out "grab me by the wrist, hit me across the face…or maybe you could try throwing me against a wall because you haven't tried that on before" Lexie spat out in venom.

Thatcher tried to lunge forward so he could grab Lexie but Derek and Alex quickly pulled him back, refusing to let go of the man's arms.

"You're pathetic" Lexie sneered as she stood there with her arms folded and looked him up and down. "You can't even stay sober for one minute…"

"And you're my daughter, you're supposed to help me" Thatcher argued.

That seemed to have been the lightening strike that Lexie had been waiting for because in that split second she finally saw what everyone else had been seeing but she couldn't up until then.

"Helping you is all I have been doing" Lexie answered through gritted teeth, "do you think I _want _to be spending my days looking after a father who's a drunk?" Lexie asked as she scoffed at him.

She looked around the room at all the Attendings, all the Residents and all the Interns and nurses who were now watching the spectacle that had become Lexie's life…all out in the open for everyone to see.

Suddenly she didn't care anymore, she didn't care about who knew what kind of man her father had become. Because if he couldn't care then why the hell should she.

"Because he's a real blast after five drinks" Lexie declared as she looked at all the faces in the room, shouting loudly in anger. "Not so much after nine though; he gets a little weepy and mean. Yesterday he told me I was his favourite daughter, the day before that I was an ungrateful bitch" Lexie screamed as tears streamed down her eyes. "I buried my friend today, today I had to go and say goodbye to the _only _person who would talk to me when I first arrived in Seattle and you couldn't even give me a single minute to myself" Lexie pointed out.

She took a deep breath as she calmed down; with the adrenaline rush passing Lexie slowly began to feel the exhaustion creeping in. "I risked _everything _to try and help you…I risked my job, my sanity, my health, my relationship with Meredith and all so that I could help you. But do you want to know the worse part of it…while I kept trying to convince myself that you were actually going to get your act together, while I put myself at risk for you I was letting the man I love walk out the door because _he _couldn't bare to watch me go through all that pain" Lexie stated as she pointed towards Mark. She chose to ignore what she had just announced and ignored the hospital gossip that would come following it and concentrate on her father.

"You know it really says something when the man you're with cares more about your safety then your own father" Lexie pointed out.

Thatcher took a breath and looked at Alex and Derek, signalling to them that he had calmed down. Reluctantly the two of them let go of Thatcher and watched him as he took a step closer to Lexie.

"Well if _Dr. Sloan _really means that much more to you than you can leave, you can pack your things and get the hell out of my house" Thatcher ordered with an eerily calm tone in his voice.

Lexie had been through this enough times to know what was building up, that deep down Thatcher wasn't as calm as he looked to be.

"Fine, I'll move back into Meredith's place" Lexie announced, not wanting to show any weakness in her defense.

Unfortunately for Lexie her experience with Thatcher wasn't enough to help her stop the harsh sting she felt as he slapped her across the face. Before Lexie couldn't do anything Alex lunged forward and pinned the man against the nearest wall.

Holding the lapels of Thatchers coat in his hand Alex had the man pinned against the wall, his face inches away from Alex.

"Alex" Lexie protested; the last thing she wanted or needed was for somebody to get in to trouble because of her.

"You know I spent my whole life around bastards like you, you think that you can push us around and use us as your personal punch bag for amusement until you can get your hands on the next bottle. Well guess what funs over" Alex announced in a sneer while pushing Thatcher harder against the wall.

"You're gonna let Bailey patch up that face of yours and then you're gonna go home, pack a bag and check yourself into the nearest rehab program" Alex ordered. "And you're gonna stay the hell away from Lexie because I swear to god if you don't, if you even _think_ about going anywhere near her…Dr. Sloan could perform all the facial reconstructions in the world and it still wouldn't be enough to fix what I'll do to you. Now do I make myself clear or not?" Alex barked.

Scared out of his mind Thatcher began to nod his head profusely just before Alex let go of Thatcher's jacket and he slumped to the ground.

Without saying a word Alex stepped over him and walked out of the ER, Izzie and Cristina quickly following Alex in a worry.

Lexie looked at the man that was slumped down on the floor; he was a man that she hardly recognised and a man that she didn't want to know anymore.

Taking a deep breath Lexie turned on her heels and began walking down the corridors of the hospital, she couldn't help but smile as she suddenly felt like she could breathe again. She felt as thought a weight had been lifted off her shoulders and that she could stop carrying the burden of her father around with her.

Lexie continued to walk down the hallway while ignoring her father's pleas for her to come back, for her to give him another chance.

Lexie shook her head as she decided that she had run out of second chances.

Quickly changing out of her scrubs Lexie grabbed her jacket and purse before leaving the hospital as fast as her legs would take her; she needed to get away from it all.

************

"Lexie" Meredith called out as she barged through the front door frantically with Mark and Derek following right behind.

Meredith and Mark had both searched the entire hospital for Lexie from the minute she had walked away from Thatcher, but they had had no luck and thus decided to search any other places they could think of.

"Lexie" Mark called out as he ran into the kitchen hoping to find her sitting there drinking a coffee.

"Lexie where the hell are you" Derek called out to her while running up the stairs and searched all the bedrooms and the bathroom.

"She's not up there" Derek informed them as he quickly came running down the stairs.

Meeting in the hallway Mark ran his hands through his hair as he groaned in frustration, he could quickly feel himself falling into a full blown panic attack.

He couldn't stop blaming himself in his head, arguing that he should have been the one to protect her from Thatcher, that he should have been the one to stop him from getting anywhere near her.

Mark couldn't help but wonder that if he had taken a stronger stance, if he had done what Alex had done tonight then maybe…just maybe all of this could have been avoidable.

"Where the hell could she be?" Meredith asked in a panic, Seattle was a big place and so far they had had no luck in finding her. They had searched the hospital, Joe's, Thatcher's house and even George and Lexie's old apartment but they kept coming up empty.

"There has to be somewhere that she would have gone that we haven't thought of" Derek tried to reason with Meredith. He was preying like hell that Lexie would show up soon because he wasn't sure that he could control Mark and Meredith as they _both _worked themselves into a panic.

Mark wasn't even sure why he had thought of it, or why Lexie would even go there but an idea suddenly came to him. "Give me your keys" he ordered Derek while holding his hand out.

"What…why do you want my keys for?" Derek asked with a confused look on his face.

With a blank look on his face Mark waved his hand in front of Derek a few times, "because I think I know where she is" Mark answered.

"For god sake give him the damn keys Derek" Meredith snapped, she didn't need this turning into an argument.

"Okay, okay" Derek quickly conceited and tossed Mark his car keys.

"Call us if you find her" Meredith yelled out to Mark's retreating back.

************

Mark froze as he stood on the steps of St. Andrews church and looked up at the enormous glass stained window above the doors; he had no idea why Lexie would even be here in the first place but something had told him to look there.

Mark very rarely stepped inside a church and when he did he was rather uncomfortable with it, the Sloan family had not been known for religious practices.

Taking a deep breath Mark walked the through the doors of the church and sighed in relief as soon as he spotted Lexie sitting on the front pew of the church.

He quickly sent a message to Meredith letting her know that he had found her before Mark quietly made his way through the empty church.

Mark slid into the pew and sat down beside Lexie, he wasn't sure what he was supposed to say. But some how sorry just didn't seem to cut it to him and he wasn't so sure that Lexie would buy it either.

Without taking her eyes off of the alter Lexie reached out and grasped Mark's hand tightly, she let out a sigh of relief in just knowing that she could hold Mark's hand.

"How did you find me?" Lexie asked as she continued to stair at the cross.

Mark shrugged his shoulders casually like it really wasn't a big deal, "I remembered you telling me that your mom used to come here whenever she needed a place to hide and clear her head out" Mark answered.

Lexie couldn't help but smile as she listened to Mark explain how he had managed to find her. Lexie quickly looked over at Mark for a second before she threw herself at him and wrapped her arms around Mark.

Without over analysing everything Lexie quickly kissed Mark as she held onto his face, it was a passionate yet very rushed kissed. It was almost as though Lexie thought that it would be the last time she ever got to do it.

Mark moaned as he deepened the kiss but then reluctantly grabbed Lexie's hands as he pulled away, holding onto to them tightly Mark couldn't help but smile at her. "We both know that I'm already going to hell but I'd really prefer it if I didn't add having sex in a church to the list of reason why" Mark joked, well sort of joked as far as he was concerned.

Lexie leant forward and rested her forehead against Mark's while he gently brushed his fingers against the red mark on her cheek that had been left there from Thatcher's slap.

"I'm so sorry" they both whispered at the same time, they both then began to giggle as they looked each other in the eye.

"I should have listened, I should never have gone home and I know that you have every reason to say no…every reason to walk away, especially after today but I was hoping, I was hoping that you might consider giving me another chance" Lexie spoke softly in a sheepish voice.

She would do anything to go back and make things right, to stop herself from walking away from Mark but she couldn't. So she decided instead to concentrate on the future and to try and make things right for now.

"Lexie…"

"I love you" Lexie declared, virtually cutting Mark off from anything else he had to say. "I love you and I _want_ to spend the rest of my life with you Mark Sloan, there will never be anyone else and I know that we can't fix everything that's happened in the past…but we could at least try to make sure that _our _future is the future that we both want. I know what I want, and what I want is to be as happy with you as I have been since the night I had made the best decision of my life…"

"And what would that best decision of your life be exactly?" Mark asked with a smug grin on his face.

"The night I got tired of waiting for you to make the first move and I decided to take matters into my own hands" Lexie teased as she ran her fingers through the back of Mark's hair. "I love you Mark Sloan and if you let me I'd like to try and make it up to you for everything I've put you through over the last week…just tell me what it is I have to do" Lexie pleaded in a whisper.

Mark had a huge goofy grin on his face from the second he head heard Lexie say those words, they sounded so foreign to him because very few people had ever told Mark that they loved him. But despite how new it felt it also felt right to him, hearing Lexie say those words to him sounded just as natural as it was for him to pick up a scalpel.

He wasn't sure that he'd ever get tired of hearing Lexie say those words but he did know that he was the _only _one he ever wanted to hear Lexie say them to.

They quickly jumped apart at the sound of a door being slammed shut and were greeted with a sweet smile by the priest who quickly made his way towards them.

"Lexie Grey" the priest chanted as he broke out in a wide grin, he looked really happy to see her and that kind of freaked Mark out.

"Father McLearie" Lexie greeted him as she rose from her chair and gave the man a quick hug.

Mark cleared his throat just to remind Lexie that he was in the room, "oh I'm sorry…Father McLearie this is Mark Sloan, Mark this is Father McLearie" Lexie introduced the men.

"Lovely to meet you" Father McLearie welcomed Mark in excitement with a heavy Scottish accent before turning his attention back to Lexie. "You're a sight for sore eyes dear" the Father teased, purposefully pointing out that Lexie hadn't been to church in awhile.

Lexie turned her attention to Mark, "Father McLearie's known me my whole life, this was the local church that my mother would bring us to every Sunday morning" Lexie explained with a fond smile until she was reminded of why it was she had stopped going.

"Yes until your dear mother had passed" the Father finished for Lexie, "I was the one to preside over the service, one part of the job that I hate more than anything else" the Father explained to Mark.

Mark wrapped his arm around Lexie's waits and gave her hip a little squeeze just to let her know that he was there for her.

"I'm proud to say that I've played a part in all the very important moments of Grey family, from marriages to births…and unfortunately to a death" Father McLearie declared. "Your mother had always hoped that I'd be the one to marry you" the father added with a grin on his face as he looked back and forth between Mark and Lexie.

Lexie let out a nervous laugh as the priest made suggestions about her and Mark getting married, while it was definitely something that Lexie would want to do one day she wasn't entirely sure that Mark was ready for something like that.

"Why not" Mark asked in confusion at the priest's comment, it was a question which seemed to have grabbed both Lexie and Father McLearie's attention.

"Oh well, you see I'm moving on from the Lords work, giving someone else a chance to carry on with it. Today was my last day before I retire and fly home to Edinburgh" Father McLearie explained.

Mark saw the fond smile on Lexie's face and suddenly a plan began to develop in his mind, "father could you excuse us for a minute" Mark asked before quickly pulling Lexie away from the priest.

"Mark what's wrong?" Lexie asked with a concerned look on her face.

"Nothing" Mark reassured Lexie with a smile on his face, as he thought about it the idea made more and more sense to him and he wanted to do it more than anything else.

"Marry me" Mark declared with a grin on his face.

"Excuse me?" Lexie asked with a surprised look on her face.

"You asked me what it was you could do to make things right and now I'm telling you, I want you to marry me…right now" Mark answered in excitement.

"Mark you can't be serious" Lexie tried to reason with him, she was worried that Mark was allowing everything that had happened today to control what he was thinking and what he was saying.

"This has nothing to do with today" Mark answered Lexie's unspoken question, "ok I sort of am but just hear me out before you say no ok?" Mark asked hopefully.

Lexie was far too surprised and still trying to wrap her head around it all to do anything else but nod her head in agreement.

"I love you Lexie Grey and if today has taught me anything it's that life's too short, at any minute one of us could be hit by a bus" Mark argued, he quickly held a hand up to stop Lexie from protesting. "I'm not asking you to marry me because I'm not thinking clearly, because I am…this is probably the first time I've been able to say what it is that I really want without seconding guess myself…"

"Mark" Lexie whispered uncertainly, everything inside of Lexie was telling her to say yes and to marry Mark right then and there.

But there was this nagging voice in the back of her head telling her that if she did this she'd be taking the risk of ending up exactly like George and Callie, and Lexie couldn't risk that.

"We aren't O'Malley and Torres; I'm not asking you to marry me because I'm grieving for my old man or because I want to do something that will help me forget. I'm asking you to marry me because I love you, because I know that I want to spend the rest of my life with you and I don't need to wait another few months to prove it. I mean is there really a big difference if we spent the next few months together as boyfriend and girlfriend or as husband and wife…we both know that neither one of us wants out" Mark tried to reason with Lexie.

Before Lexie could say anything Mark quickly cupped Lexie's head in his hands and kissed her softly yet fiercely on the lips, hoping that she'd understand how serious he was about this.

Father McLearie cleared his throat to gain Mark and Lexie's attention before he made his way over, "I didn't mean to over hear the two of you but if you would like to then I'd be more than happy to perform the wedding" Father McLearie explained with a smile.

Lexie looked back and forth hesitantly between a priest who despite spending less than five minute with Mark and Lexie was more than happy to marry them and Mark who had a wide smile on his face in excitement.

"But we don't even have any witnesses" Lexie argued when suddenly a man and a woman came walking through the doors of the church.

Mark smiled with a smug grin, "see even the big man upstairs wants us to do this" Mark teased.

"I, I don't want _today _to be the day that we get married" Lexie told Mark, subtly hinting at Mark that she didn't want the day they had buried George to be the day that they celebrated their wedding.

Mark looked down at his watch then looked up at Lexie with a smile on his face, "Lex it's 12:09 am, so technically it's the day after" Mark argued.

Lexie stalled as she thought about it again when Mark suddenly grasped her hands and squeezed them tightly. "Don't think about it, don't over analyse it and just do what your gut's telling you to" Mark encouraged Lexie.

With a raised eyebrow Lexie looked at Mark uncertainly for a split second while trying to hide a smile from her face, "I'm warning you right now…at work I'm keeping the name Grey" Lexie began to say but apparently that was all that Mark needed to hear.

He instantly wrapped his arms around Lexie and lifted her off the floor before kissing her on the lips. Gently placing her back down Mark looked over at Father McLearie with a huge grin, "father if you're not too busy".

"Of course, just follow me" Father McLearie instructed them as he made his way over towards the alter.

Gathering his things together Father McLearie turned to Mark and Lexie, "Mark…"

"Mark Sloan" Lexie helped him out with a cheeky smile on her face.

"Do you Mark Sloan take Alexandra Grey to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold both in sickness and in health, for better for worse, for rich or poor till death do you part?"

"I do" Mark whispered as he squeezed Lexie's hands tightly in reassurance, no words had ever felt more right to Mark than saying those two words.

"Do you Alexandra Caroline Grey take Mark Sloan to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold both in sickness and in health, for better for worse, for rich or poor till death do you part?"

"I do" Lexie whispered, part of her still couldn't believe that this was happening.

"Well then through the power invest…" Father McLearie began to say but was interrupted by Mark.

"Do you mind if I say something?" Mark asked the priest with a sheepish grin on his face, talking about his feelings wasn't something Mark liked to do. But he was pretty sure that he could make an exception on his wedding day.

"Of course" Father McLearie reassured Mark.

Mark turned to Lexie nervously, "Lexie I know that by tomorrow morning you'll probably be having doubts about this and wondering whether we did the right thing or not. But I want you to know that I won't be because I know that this is the right step for us, I love you and while I'm usually a pretty selfish guy I know that when it comes to you I'm not. When it comes to you…to _us_ I know that I will do anything in my power to make sure that this lasts forever. And I promise you that until the choice is taken out of my hands I will continue to love you and I will continue to protect you whether its from your father or all those old cronies back at the hospital who are going to tell you that you've gone insane once they find out about this…"

Lexie giggled at Mark's letter statement while trying not to cry; only Mark could make Lexie laugh during their wedding.

"I love you Lexie, and I want to spend the rest of my life making sure that you always have a smile on that beautiful face of yours" Mark whispered.

"And I love you Mark Sloan, while others may see an overbearing and arrogant surgeon I see the man I love. I see this sweet, kind and gentle man who always knows how to make me laugh, who always knows what I need before even I know what it is that I need. I don't think I'm ever going to be able to thank you for choosing me, for loving me. But what I do know is that I'll spend the rest of our lives making sure that you never regret it…thank you for never running away" Lexie whispered as a tear slid down her eye.

Mark reached out and wiped a tear away from Lexie's eye before turning to Father McLearie who nodded his head.

"Mr. Sloan you may kiss you bride" Father McLearie announced with a wide smile on his face.

************

"Wait" Mark cried out just as Lexie was about to step through the door of the Archfield hotel.

"What?" Lexie asked with her brow furrowed in confusion, a slight feeling of fear began to creep its way through that it had finally sunk in for Mark what they had just done and that he was know changing his mind.

"Last time I checked the groom is supposed to carry the bride over the threshold" Mark announced with a cheesy grin before quickly sweeping Lexie up off her feet and carried her into the room.

"That's probably the _corniest_ line that I have ever heard you say Mark Sloan" Lexie pointed out while trying to control her laughter.

"Yeah well you married me so you're stuck with me" Mark teased before gently lying Lexie down on to the bed.

As Lexie's head hit the pillow the exhaustion of the day's events finally began to hit her and she could feel her eyelids suddenly become heavier.

"Are you falling asleep on me?" Mark asked with an evil grin on his face while kicking off his shoes and quickly lying down next to her.

"Sorry" Lexie murmured; struggling to keep her eyes opened.

Mark turned on his side as he ran his hands through her hair, he loved the feeling of Lexie's hair as he threaded his fingers through it. "Well the Chief did give us strict instructions not to go in tomorrow" Mark pointed out with a devious smile on his face.

With her eyes still closed Lexie leant across and quickly kissed Mark on the lips, "I promise I'll make it up to you tomorrow" Lexie promised before draping an arm across Mark's waist and resting her head on his chest.

"I'll hold you to it" Mark warned her with a tired smile on his own face, the loss of a weeks worth of sleep finally catching up with him.

"Good night Mr. Sloan" Lexie teased as she tightened her grip around Mark and finally drifted off to sleep.

"Good night Mrs. Sloan" Mark whispered back and kissed Lexie on the top of her head before quickly turning the light off. He couldn't stop himself from smiling as he softly mumbled the words Mrs. Sloan under his breath so as not to wake Lexie up.

Mark couldn't help but feel a sense of peace and happiness wash over him as he thought about those words. He had a wife…Mark Sloan was a married man and that thought didn't freak him out in the least bit, in fact it was probably the complete opposite.

It excited Mark, the idea of spending the rest of his life with Lexie was something he couldn't wait to start doing and now he knew without a doubt that Lexie wasn't going anywhere.

As Mark slowly felt himself drift off to sleep Mark couldn't help but chuckle as he thought about Derek's reaction once they actually got around to telling everyone what they had just done…but Mark was pretty sure that neither he nor Lexie were in a hurry.

************

**I really hope that you all liked this chapter and I really would appreciate as much feed back as possible...even if it's to tell me that I'm a real nut case for writing this chapter :P**


	9. Chapter 9

************

**Chapter 9**

"Mark" Lexie called out as she reluctantly pulled herself up from the bed, as her eyes slowly adjusted to the sunlight that was streaming through windows she barely managed to make out the fact that she was alone.

She found a note scribbled with Mark's handwriting sitting on the bedside table, the exact same handwriting that Lexie could pick out from a mile away.

_Had to go out, I'll be back soon, xxxx Mark._

Still half asleep Lexie managed to untangle her feet from the bed sheets before stumbling into the bathroom so she could take a much needed shower.

As she quickly stripped off all her clothes and jumped into the shower she sighed in relief as the steaming hot water flowed over her body. After the day that Lexie had been through yesterday the water felt good against her skin, it was almost as if the water had begun to cleanse away the horrors of the day before.

But as she began to run her fingers through her wet hair Lexie slowly became more conscious of her surroundings and the events of last night…or more precisely this morning became clearer.

It slowly began to sink in that she was a married woman…she was now legally Mrs. Alexandra Sloan, just the thought of those words brought a huge smile to Lexie's face.

While there was still a part of her that was worried that Mark would end up regretting this or that things wouldn't work out Lexie had decided to just go with the flow. To take each day as they came and that hopefully they could work their way through it together.

Thirty minutes later Lexie stepped out of the shower and quickly slipped into a robe before heading out into the other room in search of clean clothes.

Just as Lexie stepped out of the steaming bathroom Mark's whereabouts were finally revealed as he stepped through the door with two cups of coffee and a paper bag.

"One of those better be for me" Lexie warned Mark with a playful glare.

"Well I figured that the least I could do was feed my _wife_" Mark answered as he walked over to the coffee table so he could empty his hands.

Wearing nothing but her bathrobe Lexie sauntered over to Mark and quickly wrapped her arms around his neck before Mark had a chance to escape. "Paying the corner café a visit does not make you Tarzan" Lexie teased before quickly pulling him forward and capturing his lips with her own.

A tiny smile hovered on his lips, while dipping his head forward he gently returned the kiss. She opened her mouth to him, her tongue sliding into his warm mouth which tasted on coffee, her body pressing him back as the kiss slowly deepened.

It amazed Mark how just one kiss from Lexie could do more to him than anything else he had ever done with all those other women. Mark knew that he was more than happy to spend the rest of his life doing just this, then Mark couldn't help but smile against Lexie's lips as he realised that was every bit the reality of his life now.

His own mind couldn't still quite comprehend the fact that she had said yes, that she had agreed to marry him…but the part that really got to Mark the most was the fact that her only hesitation in saying in yes had nothing to do with her own doubts about marrying him, but rather her fears that _he _would end up regretting it.

Just hearing Lexie voice those fears actually made Mark fall in love with her even more if that was even possible, she was the first person to ever tell him that they were afraid of losing him.

Mark had never really considered himself to be anything special, or that he offered anything that was _worth_ having around but when he was with Lexie he did. He felt like he was worth something, he felt like he could do anything and more importantly he could clearly see where his life was headed.

Lexie immediately sensed that Mark had drifted off and wasn't as focused as he usually was when it came to this. She sighed and stroked a hand down his arm. "Am I boring you?" she asked with a mocking pout on her lips.

Mark chuckled lightly at Lexie's question and shook his head, "you could never bore me" he reassured her as his fingers quickly made their way down the front of her robe.

Pulling the robe slightly away from Lexie's body Mark took a peek at what was underneath and raised an eyebrow, "you took a shower?" he asked as he finally registered her wet hair.

"Well I woke up and you weren't here so I figured that I may as well do something to occupy the time until my _husband _came back" Lexie teased while tightening her grip around his neck.

"You do realise that you're just going to have to take another shower later" Mark pointed out with a devious smile on his face, "if I remember correctly Mrs. Sloan you made a certain promise in the wee hours of this morning and I plan on collecting".

"Then shut up and kiss me" Lexie order as a small gentle smile graced her lips.

His lips gently kissed her neck while she stretched her head back to encourage him to keep going, feeling the subdued laughter building up in him as he obeyed her.

"Breakfast's getting cold" Lexie teased with her eyes closed and moaned in delight at the feeling on Mark's skin against her own.

Mark pulled back with a half smile on his face, "we live in a hotel room, that's what room service is for" he argued before quickly going back to paying her neck some much needed attention.

"What about your coffee, I know how much you hate letting your coffee go cold" Lexie pointed out with an evil grin on her face.

Mark pulled his lips away from her neck and Lexie quickly moved in to reclaim them but Mark tilted his head back and made eye contact. "If you're hungry just say so" Mark explained as he brushed Lexie's hair away from her face.

Lexie quickly jumped up and wrapped her legs around Mark's waist before frantically tugging on the hem of his shirt until she had successfully managed to free him of it.

Mark effortlessly carried Lexie over to the bed and gently laid her down, as he studied every feature on her face and the glowing smile she was wearing Mark couldn't help but smile back.

"Room service it is" Mark declared before quickly joining her.

Lexie shook her head while trying to stifle a giggle, and in that split second all was forgotten as though nothing existed outside the four wall of that hotel room.

************

"How can you even be eating that?" Lexie asked in disgust, sitting on the bed with only a sheet wrapped around her.

Mark shook his head as he lay sprawled out on the foot of the bed wearing nothing but a pair of sweatpants, because he couldn't exactly answer the door naked.

Just as Lexie had warned Mark, both the food and coffee he had bought earlier that morning had gone cold. Once they had finally managed to untangle themselves Mark delivered on his promise and ordered them some breakfast…well more like lunch.

"It's a good hardy breakfast" Mark argued before taking a huge bite into his burger like an animal.

"A bacon an egg burger is not a 'good hardy breakfast', it's a heart attack waiting to happen and I don't know about you but I was actually planning on having this marriage last until I'm at least 30" Lexie teased while chewing on her muesli.

"You plan on getting a better offer when you're 30?" Mark asked, trying to hide his own smile because deep down he knew that she wasn't going anywhere.

Mark was still surprised with his new found certainty when it came to his relationship with Lexie, along with his more positive outlook on life. But he wasn't going to question it or try to change back to the old Mark…because he loved how his life was working out.

Lexie shrugged her shoulders, "a girl has to keep her options open...but six years is slowly beginning to look a lot more like fifty" Lexie answered hesitantly.

It had been the first time either of them had made a serious reference to the fact that they had moved from being a 'thing' yet to be define to being husband and wife.

"Hey don't blame me because you ordered that bowl of wood chips" Mark teased; running his fingers up and down the calf muscle of her exposed leg.

Lexie shook her head at Mark in disbelief while trying not to laugh; she had discovered an interesting fact about Mark that morning while ordering food….Mark Sloan _hates _muesli, oats, porridge and any other form of wheat with a passion.

"How is it even possible that you've managed to stay looking like this" Lexie asked, pointing at his bare chest, "when you eat stuff like that?" she questioned while pointing to the burger in his hand.

"I have my methods" Mark answered with a seductive smile, quickly finishing off his food. "If you want I can give you a demonstration" Mark suggested with a rather excited look on his face.

Lexie giggled as she managed to slip out of bed with the sheet still wrapped around her. "_I _am going to jump into the shower" Lexie informed him.

Mark groaned before he sprung forward to try and grab the end of the sheet so he could drag Lexie back to bed.

Squealing Lexie skipped a step and quickly ran into the bathroom, locking the door behind her.

Mark collapsed back onto the bed and laid there as he looked up at the ceiling; neither of them had really brought up the subject of their marriage besides making playful references to being a husband or a wife. Mark knew that it was something that they'd have to talk about before the end of the day; they needed to come up with a battle plan if they were going to deal with tomorrow.

But if there was one thing Mark knew for sure it was that this was it, they had reached the point of no return. Going back to the way things were before this morning or simply giving up was no longer an option as far as Mark was concerned.

Failure was not an option.

"It's all yours" Lexie announced in reference to the shower as she walked out of the bathroom twenty minutes later.

Mark simply smiled at Lexie, quickly jumping off the bed Mark blocked her off before she could move any further and cupped her face in his hands. "I love you Mrs. Sloan" Mark whispered before kissing her gently and tenderly on the lips.

"Are you eve going to get tired of calling me that?" Lexie teased.

"Nope" Mark answered confidently as he began to walk towards the bathroom, "and I'm pretty sure that you love hearing it just as much as I love saying it" Mark argued with a cheeky grin and closed the door before Lexie could answer him.

Lexie shook her head with a huge grin on her face; of course she loved hearing him call her Mrs. Sloan. Because to Lexie it meant that not only was Mark acknowledging the fact that they got married but also that he's just as excited about it as she is.

Quickly drying her hair and pulling on a sweater and pants Lexie heard a small groan escape from her lips as she listened to the sound of her cell phone ringing.

Lexie took one look at the caller I.D. and immediately rejected the call before throwing her phone on to the bed, today was going to be a good day…a wonderful day as far as Lexie was concerned as she wasn't going to let anyone ruin it.

Deciding to make herself useful she began to clean up the room, picking up Mark's clothes that were scattered across the floor. As she reached out for the jacket that had ended up near the foot of the couch Lexie felt something hard and solid inside his coat pocket.

Thinking that it was nothing more than Mark's cell phone Lexie retrieved the item from the pocket but froze the moment she saw the little blue velvet box.

"You're not supposed to help yourself to it, you're supposed to wait until I _give _it to you" Mark called out with a smirk on his face. He loved the speechless look on Lexie's face because it was the exact reaction he was hoping for.

"What is it?" Lexie asked with a shaky voice.

"Open it" Mark told her as he gathered up some clean clothes and walked back into the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

Not even a minute later Mark walked back out and watched as Lexie sat on the armrest of the couch, stairing intensely at the object inside the velvet box. Her hands were shaking and it looked as though she was about to cry.

"Lex" Mark softly called out as he sat down on the bed, bent over and trying to put his socks on Mark didn't even see it coming.

Suddenly Lexie ran towards him and pounced on him, pinning him down against the bed and straddling his lap Lexie began to kiss Mark furiously and passionately, while still clutching the velvet box.

Reluctantly Mark pulled away from Lexie's attack and could see the pure excitement glistening in her eyes, "whoever said that diamonds are a girl's best friend wasn't kidding" Mark joked.

Lexie squealed in delight and disbelief as she quickly swung her leg around and sat down on her knees in the middle of the bed, "where did you even get this" Lexie asked in amazement as she admired the platinum wedding band sitting inside the box.

"I know a guy" Mark answered rather vaguely; he knew how much Lexie hated not knowing things.

"Mark there isn't even a jewellery store opened at 8am, so seriously where did you get it?" Lexie asked again, completely in awe of the ring. It was probably the most stunning piece of jewellery she had ever seen in her entire life.

Hesitantly Lexie pulled the ring out of the box and played with it so she could get a better view, the entire ring was encased with diamonds along the surface _and _sides of the ring.

"This would have costed a fortune" Lexie pointed out with a hitched breath, she was terrified of trying it on because something like this was far too exquisite for her.

"Like I said I know a guy who owed me a favour and besides the cost of this ring is nothing compared to what _you _have given me" Mark argued. He took the ring from Lexie's shaking fingers and held out her left hand before he carefully slipped the ring onto her left hand.

Lexie held her left hand out as she studied the diamond ring which sparkled in the light of the room, "it's actually real…I mean this makes it official, we're married" Lexie declared in a squeal of delight.

Mark chuckled at Lexie's burst of enthusiasm, "right so a priest and a marriage certificate doesn't make our marriage real but a diamond ring _does_" Mark teased.

Lexie rolled her eyes in disbelief, "I'm having a girlie moment here Mark, I know you're not accustomed to it but I am so could you let me have this moment?" Lexie asked.

Mark leant forward and kissed Lexie tenderly on the lips, trying to gain her attention. Because after his gift Mark was convinced that he deserved a little reward for his generosity.

Lexie on the other hand was far too busy admiring her new ring out of the corner of her eye to be interrupted by Mark's advances. With her hand stretched out behind Mark's head Lexie smiled at how perfectly the ring sat on her finger.

"You're looking at it right now aren't you?" Mark asked in disbelief, with his lips still pressed against Lexie's he moved his arm out behind him as felt Lexie's stretched out arm. "Unbelievable" Mark sighed as he grasped her hand and brought Lexie's arm back down.

"Mark" Lexie sulked, "you can't give a girl a ring like this and _not _expect her to be mesmerised by it.

"Fine, have your girlie moment" Mark sighed, pretending to be put out by the fact that his wife would prefer admiring her ring then admiring him. "Would you like me to give the two of you some privacy?" Mark teased.

"Well now you've just ruined the moment" Lexie pouted, playfully elbowing him in the stomach before she dropped her head onto the pillows.

"Lex" Mark called out, his smile instantly fading as he looked down at the screen on her cell phone. "You have three missed calls" Mark announced with a frown on his face.

"Oh really" Lexie asked propped up on her elbow, pretending as though she knew nothing about it.

"Lexie" Mark warned as he narrowed his eyes towards her, he knew that she was lying.

"I mustn't have heard it" Lexie argued, even she knew how weak that defence was.

"Ahuh, you couldn't hear your phone ringing…the same phone which was lying right here on the bed" Mark asked in disbelief, now waving the phone in front of her face.

Suddenly the conversation was brought to a halt as her cell phone began ringing, "It's Molly again" Mark announced as he tossed her the phone.

While Mark didn't really trust the woman, or like her for that matter since Molly had decided to play the guilt trip on Lexie about their father, but he didn't want to be the reason that Lexie had a strained relationship with her sister.

Without a second thought Lexie rejected the call just like earlier before and threw the phone back at Mark, "could you just put it down beside my coat" Lexie asked him with a sweet smile.

Mark looked back and forth between the phone in his hand and his wife who was now lying back down on the bed. "Lexie…." Mark called out in disbelief; he really didn't know what to say.

"Mark can we not do this?" Lexie asked in exasperation, she didn't understand why Mark wanted to analyse all of this.

"You just hung up on your sister" Mark pointed out.

"Yes" she quickly snapped and jumped up off the bed before walking over to Mark. Wrapping her arms around Mark's neck Lexie pulled him closer towards her, "because I already know _why _she's calling. Dad's called her and in his drunken state ranted on about what happened at the hospital and about how Alex man handled him…"

"Well he deserved it" Mark muttered; his arms wrapped around her waist.

"Molly isn't going to see it that way, and we'll end up in this huge argument where she'll make me feel like the worst daughter in the world and I'll be sucked into going over to my dad's place to check on him" Lexie rambled in explanation.

Lexie leaned forward and kissed Mark on the lips, "today is supposed to be a happy day for us, today we're supposed to be do nothing but celebrate the fact that we are _married_ Mark. So can we please, please, please, just forget about the outside world for today…I mean the reality of my father's drinking and Molly's guilt trips aren't going anywhere" Lexie tried to reason with Mark.

Mark chuckled and lightly kissed the tip of her nose, "if that's what you really want" Mark conceited quickly. He hated seeing Lexie upset and refused to ruin the day for her because she was right, today was supposed to be a celebration. "Besides your sister already hates me and she'll probably stick the knife in even further when she finds out we got married….so we may as well stall as long as possible".

"Actually I wanted to talk to you about that" Lexie answered nervously, taking a hold of his hand Lexie began to guide Mark over to the bed and sat down. With a solemn look on her face Lexie reluctantly slipped her brand new ring off of her finger and held it out towards Mark.

For a split second fear began to consume Mark while a million thoughts ran through his head, the most common one being that Lexie was trying to tell him that she had changed her mind.

"Mark I love you" Lexie declared with a reassuring smile, "and I love the fact that we got married without any of the fuss or hassle that comes with planning a wedding. But I just think that for a little while it might be a good idea if we keep this to ourselves" Lexie explained sheepishly.

"You don't want anyone to know" Mark asked hesitantly as he sat down beside Lexie, he suddenly felt like someone had punched him the gut. He didn't want to keep this a secret, he didn't want to hide the fact that he was a married man…in fact he was looking forward to announcing it to his best friend, he couldn't wait to see the look on Derek's face.

"Mark" Lexie called out softly as she gently stroked the scruff of his beard, but Mark refused to look at her. "Mark looked at me please" Lexie whispered pleadingly, cupping his cheek in her hand Lexie turned his head so that she could look him in the eye.

Despite her plea for him to look at her Mark refused to, he refused to show her the hurt or the vulnerability in his eyes.

Lexie leaned in to kiss him tenderly on the lips but Mark tilted his head back and made eye contact for the first time since this conversation had started. She sighed as she rose to her feet and began pacing up and down the room.

"Mark I love you and I couldn't think of anything else I want more than to be able to tell everyone we work with that we got married, to tell Meredith that you're officially a part of our family for good…"

"But" Mark asked flatly, his face was completely devoid of any emotion that Lexie couldn't even sense what Mark was feeling.

"George used to talk to me; and he made it pretty clear that when he and Dr. Torres came back from Vegas _none _of them understood…they all thought that his marriage with Dr. Torres was nothing but a joke. And I don't want that to be us" Lexie tried to explain while trying not to cry. "I don't want the entire hospital to turn what we have into something ugly, or for them to start taking bets on how long we're going to last" Lexie whispered as she sat back down next to Mark.

The two of them sat on either ends of the bed, they were only an arms length away from each other yet they both felt so far apart. "I'm just worried that if we go in there tomorrow morning and tell everyone what we did that they'll all start telling us how insane we are. Or they'll all start assuming that we only got married because of George" Lexie sighed in frustration, rubbing her eyes Lexie shook her head. "This isn't really coming out how it was supposed to" Lexie explained with an exhausted laugh.

"What are you trying to say?" Mark asked softly, even he was having a really hard time trying to keep track of Lexie's thoughts.

Lexie took a deep breath as she chose her words carefully, "I don't want the hospital thinking that this is something we rushed into, or that we didn't give this enough thought because we did…we both did, and we decided that this is what we want. But they won't understand that, I just…I just want to give everyone some time and some space so that they can grieve for George. And that way we can enjoy our first few weeks of being married rather than constantly being under the spot light, because that's exactly what's going to happen once everybody finds out" Lexie tried to reason with Mark.

Mark understood where Lexie was coming from and as he thought about it he was beginning to think that she had the right idea. While he did want the people he cared about, namely Derek, to know about the marriage Mark wasn't looking forward to all the gossip.

He didn't want to have to spend his first few weeks as a married man listening to all the hushed whispers or all the bets that would start going on about how long it would take before they got a divorce…or worse, how long it would take before Lexie caught him in an on-call room with a nurse.

Mark wanted the chance to enjoy the first few weeks of married life in complete bliss, just like they had been doing this morning. He looked over at Lexie and could see the fear and hesitation in her face. Mark slid across the bed and kissed her forehead, trying to ignore the brief and unexpected stab of guilt for making Lexie question her certainty in them. A conscience was something that was easy to forget when it was so rarely used but at times it still surprised Mark that he had one.

Her hands ghosted over his lips before she quickly pulled herself up his body and wrapped her legs around his hips, her hands sliding up and around his neck as she kissed his lips. She kissed him gently, putting all her heart and soul and everything she was feeling into that one kiss.

When Mark pulled his lips gently away from hers Lexie leaned in to reclaim them but Mark tilted his head back. "We'll do this your way" Mark announced as he held out Lexie's ring, "but you have to promise me that when we're outside the hospital you'll never take this off" Mark informed her.

Lexie quickly and profusely began nodding her head as she watched Mark slip the ring back onto her finger. Resting her left hand on the centre of his chest Lexie could feel a tear slide down her cheek as she looked down at the ring; her finger had felt naked from the second she took it off.

Mark gently wiped away the tear with his thumb, when he opened his mouth to speak she closed her lips over his and slid her tongue into his warm mouth, enjoying the chuckle that bubbled up from his chest.

************

**I really hope that you all liked this chapter and I really would appreciate as much feed back as possible...even if it's to tell me that I'm a real nut case for writing this chapter :P**


	10. Chapter 10

************

**Chapter 10**

Mark gently ran his finger up and down Lexie's arm as they laid in exhaustion, limbs wrapped and twined around one another. Mark smirked as he remembered the delightful way that Lexie had decided to wake him up, "now that is the proper way to say good morning" Mark stated.

Pulling Lexie up against him Mark kissed her lips slowly and passionately, they were both trying to forget the fact that their day of uninterrupted bliss had come to an end.

_Now _they had to return to the world of doctors and hospitals; all the mean while trying to not let their little secret slip.

Mark groaned as listened to the sound of his cell phone ring in the background, he wasn't quite just ready to go back to reality yet, particularly for the fact that it meant having to lie to everyone.

Hiding their marriage still didn't sit right with Mark, he almost felt as though it was some sort of dirty little secret and it wasn't. But it was what Lexie wanted and Mark knew that he'd do just about anything for his wife.

Lexie giggled at Mark's frustration because she knew how much he hated being interrupted when he wasn't at work, but whoever was calling was relentlessly desperate. "You should get that" Lexie suggested, reluctantly pulling herself away from Mark.

Mark grunted at the loss of Lexie's body heat and picked up his cell phone from the bedside table, taking a quick look at the caller I.D. before answering it. "Derek, this better be important" Mark warned him with a glaring look on his face.

"My _sanity _is important _to me_, so yeah this kind of is important" Derek answered sarcastically, he hadn't had a decent nights sleep and it was all Meredith's fault.

"Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed" Mark joked; he had known Derek long enough to know that when he was this grouchy in the morning you could never take anything he said seriously.

"Meredith has been driving me insane all night" Derek answered bluntly, "so please tell me that Lexie is with you right now and not at Thatcher's place. Mere's been about five seconds away from banging down his front door since Lexie never came home last night" Derek explained.

He loved that Meredith was taking her big sister role seriously but last night had been above and beyond. She had been pacing up and down their bedroom muttering about how she was going to kill someone if Lexie back at his house last night.

At first Derek had thought it was sweet and a sign of Meredith's process of evolving, but with all the tossing and turning it quickly begun to lose its sweet factor.

Mark's annoyance with Derek was quickly beginning to fade, he couldn't stay mad at Derek…not when he knew the power of the Grey nag from first hand experience.

"She's here" Mark reassured Derek; he leant in toward Lexie and kissed her while trying to concentrate on what Derek had been saying. "Uh ha" Mark murmured, kissing Lexie a second time.

"You're not even listening to me" Derek exclaimed in disbelief but Mark could hear his smile.

"Am to" Mark argued, his lips pressed up against Lexie's.

"Are not" Derek countered back.

"Am to" Mark repeated like a little kid.

With her arms wrapped around Mark's neck Lexie rolled her eyes at the childish way that Derek and Mark were behaving. Deciding to do something about it Lexie grabbed the phone off of Mark, "Derek go find my sister and use her to occupy your time if you really have nothing better to do, Mark's a bit busy right now" Lexie ordered before hanging up on him.

Mark chuckled at Lexie's domineering behaviour; he found it incredibly sexy when she became all bossy because it was a side to her that he didn't get to see too often. "You just yelled at your _boss_" Mark reminded her, trailing kisses down the side of her neck.

Lexie giggled as she shook her head to refute Mark's statement, "I yelled at Derek, my soon to be _brother-in-law_" Lexie corrected Mark.

"You always have to have the last word don't you" Mark pointed out with a sly grin on his face.

Lexie nodded her head, "I'm glad that you figured that out about me, it'll make the next fifty years of _your _life a lot easier" Lexie teased while finally managing to worm her way out of bed.

"Where do you think you're going?" Mark questioned with a pout, he watched Lexie as she quickly begun to collect some clean clothes. "You know that I'm not a fan of you and clothes being put together".

"The feelings mutual" Lexie reminded him, "however some of us have rounds in an hour and we don't have the luxury of coming and going as we please..."

"Uhh but you see I'm your boss, so technically you get a free pass" Mark argued, quickly pulling Lexie's logic a part in the hopes of luring her back in to bed.

Lexie's entire body stiffened the second she heard Mark's comment, walking over towards Mark she sat down on the foot of the bed and sighed in annoyance.

"What's wrong?" Mark immediately asked, he could always tell whenever Lexie was upset about something. It was one of the things that amazed Mark the most about their relationship; they could always tell when the other one was lying.

"Nothing" Lexie reassured Mark with a fake smile, they both knew that it was forced but Lexie was hoping that Mark would let it go.

"Nope, I don't believe you" Mark stated, pulling Lexie back down onto the bed as soon as she tried to make an escape.

Lexie let out a deep sigh; she wasn't surprised that Mark wouldn't leave this alone but she really wished that he had. Running her hand through her hair Lexie rose from the bed and started pacing up and down the room.

"It's just that you can't do that Mark…"

"Can't do what?" Mark asked with a frown on his face, he really didn't know what it was that he did wrong.

"You can't go around making exceptions for me or holding me up to a different set of rules as all the other Interns. They already think that I'm using you to get ahead in my career…"

"And that I'm using the lowly Intern for some sort of sick twisted amusement" Mark added bitterly. He hated the fact that all the other Interns felt the need to add their two cents in about their relationship.

"Exactly, and it's only going to get worse once they all find out that we're _married_…"

"You mean to tell me that you actually plan on letting our dirty little secret out of the closet one day" Mark teased, hoping that it would lighten the mood.

"You know that I hate keeping this a secret just as much as you do" Lexie retorted, the guilt was quickly beginning to eat away at her already and they still hadn't even faced the others. "And for your information I haven't considered our _marriage _as some dirty little secret….I'd love to be able to just walk straight up to Meredith and tell her what we did but…"

"Woah Lexie slow down" Mark told her, cupping her cheeks in his hands Mark wiped away the tears that had managed to escape with his thumbs. "I wasn't trying to make you mad or make you feel guilty for that matter, the last thing I ever want to do is hurt you" Mark tried to comfort Lexie.

Lexie nodded her head as she took a deep breath to try and control her emotions, "I know" Lexie whispered. She hated it whenever she turned into the typical sobbing girl because that wasn't who she was, Lexie liked to think that she was pretty tough.

"But now that you've brought it up we will have to at least tell the Chief the truth about everything" Mark warned Lexie.

Lexie smiled faintly at Mark, "it'll be nice for someone else to now the truth, at least then I can stop feeling like it's all just a dream" Lexie joked.

Mark leant forward and softly kissed Lexie on the lips, "if need be I'll keep reminding you" he reassured her as he ran his finger along her wedding ring which was now hanging around her neck.

************

Lexie kept bouncing her right foot up and down, she was nervous about telling the Chief about their marriage. The original plan had been to tell the Chief as soon as they had arrived at the hospital but Mark had been pulled into surgery, now Lexie was stuck waiting inside the Chief's office _alone_.

The Chief had been so engrossed with the file in his hand that he hadn't paid attention to Lexie as he walked into his office and over to his desk. Sitting down in his chair Richard had to look twice before he finally spotted Lexie.

"Dr. Grey what are you doing in my office?" the Chief asked with a stern look.

"I um, I…" Lexie stuttered looking over her shoulder at the door, wishing Mark to walk in at that very moment. "Dr. Sloan told me to meet him here because there's something that _we _needed to discuss with you" Lexie finally managed to explain.

The Chief sighed in disbelief, "who did you kill?" he questioned bluntly. Attendings never sent the Interns in to his office unless they had done something as serious as killing a patient.

Lexie gasped in horror and shook her head, "no one, there is absolutely no one dead" she reassured him.

"Then why are you here?" the Chief asked again, he really wasn't in the mood for any of Mark's games. He was far too busy trying to reject all the applications he had been receiving for someone to replace George's position as a Resident.

It had been decided by Bailey and himself that for the sake of the remaining Residents and for the sake of their own sanity that George's position would not be replaced.

"Sorry I'm late" Mark apologised, walking straight in to the room without even knocking. He had been in such a rush to get there on time was he was still wearing his scrub cap, but quickly pulled it off as he collapsed into the chair beside Lexie. He held his hand to her with a reassuring smile on his face, hoping that she understood everything would be fine.

Despite the fact that Lexie's stomach felt like it was about to drop to the ground she couldn't help but smile back at Mark, as she took his hand and squeezed it tightly Lexie suddenly felt a lot calmer and a lot more certain of their situation.

"Will one of you please explain to my why the hell you two are in my office?" the Chief asked, he was quickly beginning to lose his patience.

Mark looked at Lexie, who nodded her head in permission for him to explain, and then turned back to the Chief. "We're here because there's something that we need to tell you" Mark explained nervously, suddenly he was finding it hard to put the right words together.

Lexie squeezed Mark's hand again and then looked the Chief straight in the eye, "what Mark's trying to explain is that _we _thought it would be best to tell you ourselves that…well, that we got married" Lexie blurted out quickly.

The Chief looked back and forth between the two of them when he suddenly burst out laughing and began slapping the table with the palm of his hand. "Sloan that's one pretty funny joke, you should try that one on Shepherd" he suggested with a grin on his face.

Lexie and Mark both furrowed their brows towards the Chief; neither of them understood what so funny about it.

The smile from the Chief's face was immediately wiped away as soon as he saw the serious looks on their faces. "You're serious" he pointed out, quickly sobering up.

"Dead serious" Mark answered through gritted teeth; it was taking all his will power to not start tearing into the Chief. He couldn't understand why the thought of him being married was so amusing when he knew that if it was Derek sitting in here the Chief would have been congratulating him by now.

Lexie could feel the tension radiating off of Mark and the last thing she wanted was for him to get into a fight with the Chief, between the two of them they had aired enough of their private lives within the walls of this hospital.

The Chief was beyond speechless and was struggling to find the words to speak; the last thing he had been expecting today was for Mark Sloan to announce that he was now a married man.

"Chief" Lexie called out cautiously because she didn't want to scare him but he was worrying her, what with sitting in his chair with his mouth hanging open and refusing to speak.

The Chief shook his head and looked back and forth between Lexie and Mark, "do Meredith and…"

"No" Mark quickly answered.

"They don't know about us getting married and right now we'd like to keep it that way" Lexie finished off Mark's sentence with a pleading look in her eyes.

"So let me get this straight…you came in here to tell me that in the last forty-eight hours you two got married, and now you want me to keep your marriage a secret?" the Chief asked, finally pulling himself together he could think properly.

Mark and Lexie both nodded their head in union.

"What marriage a secret?" Dr. Bailey asked storming into the Chief's office; she had managed to catch the last three words of the Chief's sentence.

"Dr. Bailey have you ever heard of knocking?" the Chief asked with a glaring look on his face, he hated it when people walked straight into his office.

Dr. Bailey scoffed at the Chief's question, "as much as you've heard of please and thank you" she retorted with a smirk.

Shaking his head the Chief sighed in defeat, he knew that it was pointless to try and go up against Dr. Bailey.

"Now whose marriage are you trying to keep a secret?" Dr. Bailey asked eyeing Mark and Lexie sceptically, she was finding it hard to believe that they would be talking about them two.

Lexie looked between the Chief and Mark; she could see that neither of them was going to speak up anytime soon. Lexie rolled her eyes disbelief; it was beyond her comprehension how grown men could be afraid of a short little woman like Miranda Bailey.

"Us Dr. Bailey" Lexie spoke up, "Mark and I were just explaining to the Chief here that we got married and that we would appreciate it if it could be kept a secret for now" Lexie explained.

Dr. Bailey shook her head resolutely, "I've already done the Mclying thing for a Grey before, I am not about to do it again" Dr. Bailey declared as she eyed Mark up and down.

Mark shrunk back in his seat; he felt like he was fifteen years old again and had been called into the principal's office.

"Perhaps one of you would like to explain to Dr. Bailey and myself _why _it is that it's so important to the two of you that this be kept a secret before we go making any decisions?" the Chief suggested in the hopes of finding a compromise.

"That's _exactly_ why we want to keep this a secret" Lexie answered, pointing to the disapproving look on Dr. Bailey's face in annoyance. She hated the idea of people judging Mark, telling him that he didn't have what it takes to be a good husband or a good father, some day, because it wasn't in him.

"Mark and I know that what we did was the right thing for _us_, but there are people like Dr. Bailey here" Lexie spat out bitterly, pointing to Dr. Bailey, "that aren't going to understand or even going to _want _to understand. They'll be too busy standing up on their high pedestal, all high and mighty, thinking that they now better than us. That I've made the biggest mistake of my life or that Mark doesn't even know how to be a good man let alone a good husband" Lexie argued. Her anger was quickly beginning to boil to the surface and she was losing control despite Mark squeezing her hand to try and calm her down.

"We're simply asking that this be kept a secret for a little while so that Mark and I can have some time to ease into this, and to give everyone some time to grieve for George before we drop this bomb…and besides I know for a fact that if it was Derek and Meredith sitting in here making the same request you wouldn't even be questioning this or forcing us to justify our request" Lexie pointed out.

Dr. Bailey couldn't help but smile at the Intern; Lexie had done the one thing that nobody else had been tough enough to do and that's to call the Chief up on his relationship with Meredith. They all knew that Lexie wasn't wrong, that if it was Meredith asking the Chief the exact same thing he would have caved already.

Somewhere along the line Lexie had grown a backbone and Dr. Bailey could only credit Mark with that.

"You're good for her" Dr. Bailey stated pointing at Mark with a smirk on her face before turning her attention to Lexie. "As for you Dr. Grey, at no point from the time you informed me of your marriage to the time that you finished your little rant did I think that Mark couldn't do this. I always knew that Dr. Sloan had the potential to be a better man; it was just a matter of finding the right woman. So I'd be careful about going around, making accusations and putting words in to people's mouths" Dr. Bailey informed Lexie. She was trying to pretend to be mad at Lexie but was losing quickly losing the battle.

The Chief on the other hand wasn't in the mood or have the gall to argue Lexie's accusation against his relationship with Meredith, especially with Mark and Dr. Bailey in the room.

Instead the Chief took the coward's way out and turned to Dr. Bailey, "Dr. Bailey are you in here for a reason or did you just feel like it's been too long since the last time you complained about something? Because I can assure you that it was only last week you were in here" the Chief asked while being rather short with Dr. Bailey.

Dr. Bailey's fake mad immediately turned in to real mad, raising an eyebrow at the Chief Dr. Bailey walked over, "here" she sneered and threw a file onto his desk, "take care of your own damn mess" she retorted then stormed towards the door.

Pausing by the door she looked over her shoulder at Mark and Lexie, "Dr. Grey, Dr. Sloan I would just like to congratulate you both and tell you that I can make an exception just this once and keep this a secret for you" Dr. Bailey reassured them both before leaving the room and slamming the door shut behind her.

Lexie and Mark both jumped at the sound of the door slamming, the Chief on the other hand had become accustomed to Dr. Bailey's antics and was now immune to it.

The sound of Mark's pager quickly interrupted the conversation that was taking place, and while Mark was reluctant to answer the page he saw that it was an emergency.

"I have to go" Mark informed Lexie with an apologetic smile on his face.

Lexie shook her head with an understanding smile, "go" she reassured him.

Mark looked at her hesitantly before looking at the Chief, the Chief sighed in defeat. "Fine you win, no one will find out that the two of you are married….well at least from me" the Chief reassured them.

"Thanks Chief" Mark thanked him with a wide grin as they all rose from their chairs.

"I'll see you later at lunch" Mark told Lexie before kissing her on the cheek and running out of the room.

Lexie stood in the room awkwardly for a few seconds, "I should probably go" Lexie suggested with a forced smile as she crept out of the room.

The Chief shook his head in disbelief, sometimes he couldn't tell whether he was running a hospital or a dating service.

************

"Dr. Grey" Derek greeted Lexie with a big smile on his face; he had been looking for Lexie all morning.

"Dr. Shepherd" Lexie cautiously smiled back, she was still trying to get used to the idea of lying to Derek and Meredith.

"Dr. Grey I was wondering if you have anything planned for Saturday?" Derek asked in excitement, he had spent the whole morning planning this and he couldn't wait to tell Mark.

"Saturday" Lexie repeated hesitantly, the big smile on Derek's face told Lexie that not only was Saturday important but also that she should know what it is.

"Yeah Saturday…Mark's birthday, he told you didn't he?" Derek asked, but the blank look on Lexie's face took away all of Derek's excitement. "Of course he didn't" Derek sighed while shaking his head in disbelief.

Lexie's mind couldn't seem to move past the words _Mark's birthday_, she was kicking herself for not knowing something as simple about Mark as when his birthday was.

Lexie dropped her head in her hands and shook her head, "how could I not know my own hu….honey's birthday" Lexie asked in disbelief, trying to cover up her near mistake of using the word husband.

"Honey" Derek asked sceptically.

Lexie looked up at Derek with a nervous smile, "just a nickname I was trying out on Mark but I'm not liking it…what do you think?" Lexie asked, hoping that Derek would buy her lame excuse.

Derek shook his head in disgust, "I'd drop it before the nurses find out and they _all _start referring to Mark as honey" he warned her.

Lexie quickly nodded her head in answer, but it still didn't make her feel any less guilty for not knowing Mark's birthday.

"Don't beat yourself up about it Lexie" Derek tried to comfort her; "ever since I've known Mark he's always tried to avoid his birthday. To Mark his birthday is just another day in just another year" Derek explained.

Lexie sighed in disappointment, "so what did _you _have planned" Lexie pouted.

"Well since Mark's schedule's free and I've managed to clear mine I thought that a day of fishing would do us both the world of good. After the last few weeks we've both had we could use it" Derek answered Lexie, the excitement beginning to come back.

"_Fishing_" Lexie repeated sceptically, "Mark hates fishing" Lexie stated.

"No he doesn't" Derek answered her with a strong conviction; all the times he and Mark had gone fishing proved the contrary to Lexie's argument.

"So you want to take him fishing?" Lexie asked for clarification, she didn't want to get into a fight about fishing with Derek.

"Yep and look at this way, with me and Mark gone fishing it'll give you the whole day to plan something for the night" Derek suggested.

Lexie shook her head; she had the power to stop this and to stop the torture that Mark was about to endure but it was unlucky for Mark that he had married a woman who could be wicked when she wanted to be.

If Mark was going to lie to Lexie then she was going to make him pay for it. "You know what Derek that sounds like a great idea, take Mark fishing with you…take _all the time you want_" Lexie offered with a wicked smile on her face.

"Great then we will" Derek reassured her, Lexie's odd behaviour going completely over his head.

"And Mark will deserve every single second of it" Lexie told Derek, clapping him on the shoulder before walking away.

She couldn't wait to see the look on Mark's face when Derek told him about their little fishing expedition.

************

"I have one word for you, fishing" Derek declared, walking over to Mark who was rubbing his name off the surgical board.

Mark froze at hearing the word fishing, he hated fishing. He had dodged a bullet the last time Derek had planned a fishing trip in Seattle but something told Mark that he wasn't going to be that lucky a second time.

"You want to go fishing?" Mark asked hesitantly, praying beyond belief that he had misunderstood Derek's comment.

"Yep, you and me along with nothing else but the great outdoors and two fishing rods on Saturday" Derek explained to Mark with an excited grin.

Mark shuddered, it wasn't bad enough that he had understood Derek properly but now the guy wanted to remind him of his _birthday_.

"Can't on Saturday" Mark answered quickly, now he had to think of an excuse.

"Why not" Derek asked with a furrowed brow, he wasn't going to let Mark get out of this that easily.

"Because…." Mark stalled when an idea suddenly hit him, "because I'm pretty sure that Lexie already has something planned" Mark told him.

Derek shook his head with a smug grin, "no she doesn't, she didn't even _know _that it was your birthday until I told her. She assured me that I have her blessing to take you fishing" Derek pointed out. With a proud and yet smug grin on his face Derek began to walk away, "I've already cleared our schedules, so you better be ready by 4" Derek called out over his shoulder.

"Isn't 4pm a little late for fishing?" Mark yelled back.

Derek shook his head with an evil grin, "I meant _4am_" Derek corrected Mark.

The colour in Mark face paled at the sound of being woken up at 4am to go _fishing_, he couldn't believe it but most of all he couldn't believe that his _wife_ hadn't tried to save him.

************

"You are a horrible, horrible wife" Mark hissed with a displeased look on his face.

Lexie jumped at the sound of his voice because she hadn't heard him coming, "what on earth are you talking about?"

"_Fishing_" Mark exclaimed in disbelief, "you told Derek that he could take me _fishing _on my birthday…you're a horrible, horrible wife" Mark repeated.

The fun that Lexie thought she was going to have with torturing Mark was quickly being replaced by anger, "well excuse me but I was caught off guard when Derek informed me that it was my _husband's _birthday" Lexie hissed back.

They were both whispering to make sure that no one could hear what they were arguing about.

"Funny about that huh…you know I never thought that I'd marry a man who I didn't even know the most basic things about like the day he was _born_" Lexie snapped.

Mark's own irritation was beginning to fade, he could already hear the warning bells going off in his head that he was about to be in some serious trouble. "Lexie…" Mark tried to sooth her, but she didn't want to hear it.

Lexie shook her head, "you knew that I'd eventually find out that Saturday's your birthday and that when I did I'd feel completely guilty for not knowing or for not planning something and yet you still made the conscious decision to keep me in the dark about it" Lexie argued.

"I really don't know why you're so upset about this, it isn't that big of a deal," Mark reassured Lexie, he reached to squeeze her shoulder but Lexie quickly shrugged it away.

Lexie gave Mark a fierce look, "If you don't get it then I'm sure as hell not about to tell you Mark, you're actually going to have to use that small pea sized brain of yours to work that out" Lexie exclaimed in exasperation before storming off in the opposite direction of Mark.

************

It had been one hell of a day and Mark really couldn't think of anything else that he wanted to do more than to find his wife and get the hell home, wherever that was for now, but unfortunately for Mark he couldn't.

Since their little argument Lexie had been avoiding Mark like the plague and after searching the whole hospital he finally decided to check Joe's.

He sighed in relief as he spotted Lexie sitting in one of the booths, stirring the straw in her drink. Mark cautiously made his way over to the booth and slid into the side opposite Lexie.

Looking around to make sure that no one they knew was close by or that they wouldn't be heard Mark leant in towards Lexie. "Ok you've gotta help me out here because I'm knew at all of this" he told Lexie, "are married fights the same as boyfriend and girlfriend fights or do I have to learn a whole new set of rules after finally just learnt the other ones?" Mark asked.

Half of him was asking a genuine question while the other half was hoping that it would make Lexie smile and Mark could tell that it was working; he could see that she was struggling not to smile at him.

Lexie took a sip of her drink instead of answering Mark because she hoped it would buy her some time to try and remember why she was mad at him. But she could quickly feel her resolve slipping away.

"Alexandra Caroline Grey-_Sloan_" Mark whispered, he hated having to whisper the word Sloan at the end of Lexie's name, "I am truly, deeply, eternally sorry for what I have done and if you could find it in your heart to forgive me I'd be forever grateful" Mark apologised with doey eyes and a pouted lip.

Lexie shook her head in disgust at just how weak she was to Mark's charms as she smiled at him, "you're not too bad at this apologising stuff" Lexie pointed out.

Mark scoffed, "yeah well when you've had to do it as many times as I have you become the _master_ of apologises" Mark stated.

Lexie winced, "do me a favour?" she asked him.

"Name it" Mark answered without even thinking about what the favour could be.

"Could you _stop_ doing things that would constantly require you to apologise to me, because if you don't then you're going to be spending the rest of your life apologising to me and I'm going to be spending the rest of my life mad at you. And I don't think that either of us would be very happy with that situation" Lexie stated.

Mark sat back with a seductive grin on his face, "well I can't make any promises…I'm eventually going to screw up and do something that makes you mad, it's how I'm programmed. But think of it this way, with great apologises comes great make up sex" Mark informed Lexie with an excited look on his face.

"Only Mark Sloan could turn a suggestion into a conversation about sex" Lexie sighed, trying to look annoyed at Mark rather than amused.

"Hey I'm a one track mind kind of guy, you knew that before you married me" Mark reminded Lexie with a sly grin.

Lexie shook her head and chose to ignore Mark's comment and instead took a sip of her drink.

Mark hesitated, he knew that it wasn't the end of the conversation but he wasn't too sure if he wanted to put his foot in it again. Mark sighed in defeat because while he was struggling with it he knew that subconsciously he had already made the decision.

"So do you want to explain to me what this afternoon was about?" Mark asked hesitantly.

Lexie winced at how careful Mark was with choosing his words; the idea of the two of them walking on eggshells around each other made her sick. Lexie and Mark were about being open and honest with one another, neither of them ever monitored their words in front the other.

"It's your birthday…"

"It's not that big of a deal" Mark repeated for what was the millionth time, "I've never been into celebrating birthdays and neither were my parents. Then I met Derek and the Shepherds were all about birthdays and about making a big deal about it. I learnt to adjust to it but the Shepherds knew to leave mine well enough alone" Mark explained.

"I get that Mark, but what you don't get is that this isn't about birthday cakes and candles or presents. It's about the fact that I don't even know when my own _husband_ is born" Lexie stressed her argument.

"Wait a minute are you actually saying that you regret marrying me?" Mark asked cautiously, he wasn't sure that he actually wanted to hear the answer.

"Of course not" Lexie reassured him with a warm smile, she wasn't sure how Mark jumped to that conclusion. "It's just that this afternoon proved to me that while we are married there's still a lot of stuff that we don't know about each other" Lexie pointed out.

Mark threw his hands up in defeat, "okay you win, starting tomorrow whatever you want to know just ask me and I'll tell you" Mark declared.

Lexie looked at Mark sceptically, she wasn't entirely sure that she believed him but she decided to let it go for tonight. She could always test Mark's promise out tomorrow morning.

Instead Lexie wanted to concentrate on another matter, "so I ran into Meredith this afternoon and she wanted to know when I'd be moving back in" Lexie explained cryptically with a wide grin.

She didn't want to make Mark feel like he was being pushed into this, but on the other hand the idea of being married and living with Derek and Meredith wasn't exactly what she had in mind.

"We'll stop by and pick up your stuff tomorrow morning then drop it off at Meredith's before we head into work" Mark proposed.

"Oh um, yeah that sounds like a great idea" Lexie agreed with a fake grin on her face, if Mark wasn't ready to talk about the idea of actually finding a place of their own that was outside of a hotel room then Lexie could live with that.

The smile and excitement on Lexie's face was quickly being replaced with an exhausted and disappointed look on her face, she knew that Mark could probably see it too and she wasn't going to emotionally blackmail him into it.

"I have to go to the toilet" Lexie muttered before slipping out of the booth and walking towards the bathroom.

Mark tired not to smile as he watched Lexie walk away, he knew what she had been hoping to hear him say but that would have taken the fun out of Mark's surprise.

Taking the opportunity he had of being alone Mark quickly pulled out his cell phone and dialled the number he had known off the top of his head for the last ten years, "Danny are we all set?"

************

**Sorr the updates are a bit slow but I've gone back to Uni and getting swamped with work so it might be a few days before I can update any of my stories. But I'll try to as soon as possible, meanwhile reviews are welcomed.**


	11. Chapter 11

************

**Chapter 11**

"What are you doing?" Mark asked in a panic with the toothbrush still in his mouth.

Lexie shook her head as she giggled at Mark's nervous reaction to her unpacking; in fact she noticed that Mark had been acting weird since last night when she had mentioned the whole living situation.

"What does it look like I'm doing oh genius one" Lexie teased Mark, who was still standing in the doorway of Izzie's old room wearing nothing but a pair of grey sweatpants. "I'm unpacking my stuff" Lexie explained as she was pulling clothes out of the boxes and folding them up into their proper place.

Luckily for them Thatcher hadn't been home when Lexie and Mark went over to collect her things. At first Lexie had thought that he might have gone to work but the three empty bottles of Jack Daniels lying on the kitchen bench told her otherwise.

Lexie didn't want to waste time worrying about it; she had meant what she said when she told her father she was done with all of it. So they quickly made their way up the stairs and gathered everything Lexie needed and left _before_ Thatcher came home and he got into another fight with her or worse with Mark.

"Why?" Mark asked in a daze, his mind was trying to find a reason to stall Lexie.

"Uh because look at the room" Lexie answered, waving her arm around the bedroom that was filled with cardboard boxes all over the place.

Mark shrugged casually as though he really didn't care what Lexie was doing and quickly made his way down to the bathroom of the empty house since Meredith and Derek were on-call early this morning.

Spitting the toothpaste out of his mouth Mark flipped his cell phone open and dialled the number he was looking for, after three rings the call was picked up.

"You better be on your way to Seattle Grace right this very second" Mark warned, choosing to skip the pleasantries of saying hello. Mark heard the chuckle on the other end of the phone, he needed Danny to pull it together otherwise his plan was going to hell. "Danny" Mark warned with a fierce look that he knew Danny couldn't see but could _hear_.

"I'll be there in half-an hour" Danny answered bluntly, he could hear that Mark wasn't in the mood for games. But he got not response back from Mark; instead all he could hear was the dial tone.

"We have to get to the hospital" Mark declared as he quickly walked back into the room and pulled on the clothes he had been wearing yesterday. He didn't care if people noticed that they were same clothes, all he care about was getting Lexie the hell out of there.

"Chop, chop" Mark hurried her up, grabbing a pair of jeans and a shirt he threw them at Lexie and stood near the door with his hands on his hips.

Holding on to the clothes that Mark had thrown at her Lexie was staring at Mark like he had suddenly grown a second head.

"What?" Mark sighed, he really couldn't handle it when people were unco-operative and today _everyone_ seemed to be unco-operative.

"Just because we're married mister doesn't mean you suddenly have the right to be rude to me" Lexie pointed out with a pointed stare.

Mark rolled his eyes and shook his head; walking over the Lexie he framed her cheek in his hand. "I'm sorry Lexie that I was rude to you but we really need to get a move on so could you _please_ get dressed" Mark asked politely before kissing her softly on the lips.

"Better" Lexie answered with a sceptical look but decided to let it go for no, instead she did as he asked and dressed for work.

"Why do I have to go in anyway?" Lexie asked as she pulled her head through her sweater. "I'm not on until this afternoon…."

"Because I said so" Mark interrupted her as he dragged her out of the room and down the stairs towards the car.

************

"Danny boy, you took your time getting here" Mark growled with a playful glare on his face as he slapped the man on the back.

He winced at the strength that Mark hit him; sometimes he wasn't so sure that Mark knew his own strength. "Hey I'm here aren't I" Danny asked with a wide eyed innocent smile on his face.

Mark shook his head, "so are we all set?" he asked with a lingering smile in excitement while rubbing his hands together.

Danny reach out and grabbed a hold of Mark's hands, "stop that….the way you're looking at me right now is freaking me out, it's like you're planning world domination" Danny teased.

"_Danny?"_ Derek called out in complete surprise and excitement.

"Shepherd" Danny greeted him while hugging each other, "so no flock following you around today?" Danny teased while looking over Derek's shoulder.

"Ha, ha, ha, very funny, what the hell are you even doing here? I thought that you were done with Seattle?" Derek asked with a frown on his face.

Mark tensed at Derek's question, he hadn't exactly told Danny that he couldn't tell Derek the truth but Mark wasn't ready for the million questions to come.

"He's selling his old man's house" Mark announced with a nervous smile, hoping that Danny would follow his lead.

Derek's frown deepened if that was even possible, "I thought that you decided to keep it for remembrance sake?" Derek asked. He was even more confused then he was a second ago.

"The schmuck's decided to make Chicago his permanent home, apparently Sarah's finally managed to reel him in" Mark answered for Danny.

"I wouldn't let Lexie hear you talk like that" Derek warned with a playful grin on his face. "Last time I checked you've become one of us _schmuck's_" Derek teased.

Mark shrugged his shoulders, "she's accustomed to my sense of humour".

Derek shook his head and looked over at Danny, "I don't know if I should be sorry for the girl or pray for her" Derek teased.

"Pray for whom?" Lexie asked as she and Meredith both suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

"No one" Mark answered quickly with an innocent smile on his face.

Meredith and Lexie both eyed Mark sceptically, they didn't buy it but they were going to let it go. Meredith instead turned her attention to Danny and eyed him dubiously, "who are you?" she asked bluntly with a lack of tact.

"_Meredith"_ Derek hissed with a horrified look on his face.

Danny laughed he liked women with a bit of spark, "you must be Meredith Grey" he pointed out and "you must be…" Danny asked now pointing at Lexie.

"Lexie, Lexie Grey" Lexie introduced herself while eyeing Mark curiously.

Danny let the words sink in before he slapped his hand against the nurses station "_sisters" _Danny emphasised in disbelief. "You two are dating sisters?" he asked as he tried to wrap his mind around it.

"Who are you exactly?" Lexie asked as she repeated Meredith's question, only this time the warm welcoming face she had on was suddenly replaced with a displeased one.

"Danny, Danny Mathaison. I'm the black sheep of the flock…the one that none of them wants to admit to actually knowing" Danny teased.

"You know Derek and Mark because…." Meredith asked slowly like she was talking to a mentally challenged person as she waited for him to fill in the blank.

"We went to med school together, but I was born and raised in Seattle" Danny answered politely; he could see that Meredith and Lexie weren't appreciating his sense of humour.

"So have you found a buyer yet?" Derek asked, hoping to change the subject and make Meredith happy.

"No" Mark answered for Danny with a strained smile on his face, "no buyer yet, he's still testing the waters" Mark answered rather oddly.

Derek looked Mark up and down in concern for his mental wellbeing; the man was acting weird even for Mark. But Derek decided that he could deal with that later, right now he wanted to enjoy catching up with his old friend. "Hey if you're still here later tonight why don't we grab a drink from Joe's?" Derek suggested in excitement, "We can tell you all about the fishing trip we have planned".

Danny smiled at Derek with an innocent smile before turning his attention to Mark, "_fishing?_"

Mark shook his head with a sigh, "don't ask".

"Wow you really are desperate for Derek to like you, you'll do anything for the man….even go _fishing_ despite how much you hate it" Danny teased with a sly smile on his face.

"Why does everyone keep saying that, Mark loves fishing" Derek defended the fishing campaign.

Danny raised an eyebrow with a sceptical look and turned to Lexie, "you couldn't help your man out here?" he asked with a sly smile on his face.

"No" Lexie answered flatly with her arms folded against her chest she looked over at Mark straight-faced. She really didn't want to have this conversation again over why she wasn't saving Mark from fishing.

"Actually that's why we're here" Meredith declared pointing her finger between her and Lexie. "We heard that your little fishing expedition has taken on a life of its own and well…." Meredith hesitated, looking at Lexie.

"Well if you're taking the Chief and Owen with you then you need to take Alex as well" Lexie ordered Mark with a no bull look on her face.

"Wait a minute since when are the Chief and Hunt coming with us?" Derek asked in surprise.

Mark shrugged; he had forgotten to mention that part to Derek. "I told Hunt, Hunt seemed interested so I asked him along and the Chief happened to overhear so Hunt invited him" Mark rambled on in one big breath.

"And now you're taking Alex with you too" Meredith added.

"Alex, as in _Alex Karev_" Mark asked in disbelief he turned his attention to Lexie. "You want me to spend my _birthday _with people I don't like while I'm _fishing_" Mark asked with a pleading look for her to tell him he was wrong.

"You're doing this for Izzie, Hunt told Cristina about the fishing trip this morning and she mentioned it to Izzie and know Izzie thinks that you two don't like Alex…she's worried that Alex has no friends in the hospital" Meredith answered with a stern look on her face.

"We don't like Karev" Mark reassured her with a smirk, he looked at Derek for support but he shook his head and took a step back from the situation.

"Mark you _are_ going to ask Alex to go fishing and you're going to reassure Izzie that Alex has friends around here" Lexie warned Mark with a stern voice before walking away.

"Yeah…what she said" Meredith agreed and quickly ran after Lexie.

Danny couldn't hold it in anymore and let out a loud boisterous laugh while he was bent forward, trying to catch his breath from laughing to hard. "If I didn't know any better I'd swear to god that she just ordered you around like you were her husband" Danny stated through fits of laughter.

"Are you finished" Mark snapped with a growl, he didn't need their secret being revealed by Danny's stupid behaviour.

"Well I have to run, got a patient waiting for me in pre-op but Dan…"

Danny quickly shook his head, "my flight back to Chicago leaves at 2pm. I'm only here because the real-estate agent and lawyers needed my autograph on a few things so they can sell dad's house" he explained.

Derek sighed in disappointment and took a step toward the man, "well don't be a stranger ok" Derek warned him before embracing him in a quick goodbye hug.

"Well do" Danny reassured the man as he and Mark watched Derek walk away.

Danny turned to Mark with a knowing smile on his face, "she really is the one isn't she" Danny declared more as a statement then a question.

"What do you mean?" Mark asked; he was trying to play dumb and not let anything out.

"I mean look at you, you're settling down and buying real-estate in a city you _hate _and now you're taking a guy you can't stand fishing because the little lady said so" Danny explained.

"Relationships are about compromise" Mark stated casually as though what he was doing was no big deal, because to him it really wasn't. Mark didn't see anything he was doing as a sacrifice; it was the complete opposite to him.

"Seattle's good for you…she's good for you" Danny declared with conviction.

"Are we done here?" Mark asked with a smile on his face, as much as he loved spending time with Danny he didn't mind the heckling so much.

"Yep" Danny declared with a proud smile on his face. "My lawyer's going to fax through the papers, all you have to do is sign and you will officially own real-estate in Seattle" Danny declared, tossing Mark the keys to his father's house.

Mark caught the keys and looked at them sceptically, "aren't you supposed to wait for the cooling off period…you know decide whether or not you actually want to sell or wait to see if I can afford it" Mark asked.

Danny let out a loud laugh, "ok first off _you're _the one who asked me if I was interested in selling you the house and secondly I'm pretty sure that you can _afford_ the place. But if you're having second thoughts…"

"No" Mark quickly cut in; "no second thoughts and you did what I asked right?"

Danny rolled his eyes, "yes I gave my lawyers the exact same instructions that you gave me…you know if I knew that you were going to be this difficult I would have thought twice about selling you my house" Danny teased.

Mark smiled as he played with the keys in his hand; it was finally becoming all real to him. Not only was he now a married man but he was a married man who owned real-estate in Seattle.

************

"Ok whose idea was this stupid fishing trip?" Cristina asked, falling into line with Lexie and Meredith as they continued to walk down the hallway, she had a displeased look on her face.

"Derek" Lexie answered flatly, if Cristina wasn't happy about it and if she planned on making one of the men suffer for it then Lexie was at least going to make sure it was directed at the right man.

Cristina stopped walking and that caught Lexie's attention and she also stopped walking, she was a few steps in front of Cristina. "Is he _insane_?" Cristina exclaimed in disbelief as she threw her hands up in the air.

"Hey what the hell is going on?" Meredith asked, walking back towards them, "I was already around the corner and looked like an idiot talking to myself because you _two _weren't there" Meredith admonished them.

"Apparently Derek's insane for planning this fishing trip" Lexie explained to Meredith without taking her eyes off of Cristina.

Cristina scoffed as realisation hit her, "you don't know about the last 'fishing trip' McDreamy planed" Cristina pointed out with a sarcastic tone and an overly sweet smile.

"Why what happened?" Lexie asked, all her senses suddenly went into full alert because the tone in Cristina's voice told Lexie that it was something to be worried about.

"It was nothing" Meredith quickly jumped in before Cristina could answer, "nothing happened" she reassure Lexie while giving Cristina a glaring look to keep quiet.

Cristina scoffed, "yeah if you count the Chief forcing Alex and George into an open-hand fight which resulted in Joe's boyfriend Walter smashing the back of his head into a rock as nothing then sure nothing happened" Cristina answered all in one breath.

"Meredith"Lexie exclaimed in disbelief, "Derek said _fishing_;he asked if he could take Mark fishing, he didn't say anything about taking him to a fight club" Lexie stuttered in a panic.

"Why did you have to go and do that for" Meredith hissed at Cristina, "now she's going to spend the whole weekend picturing Mark and Derek getting into fistfights with Hunt".

"Yeah and we all know that Derek and Mark don't need much encouragement to start throwing fists around" Lexie yelled before stomping down the halls, muttering to herself that if Mark came home with a scratch she was going to kill Derek.

"McSteamy really knows how to pick'em" Cristina teased with a smirk as she also walked away.

"Lexie just has a tendency to get worked up over the small things" Meredith defended her sister with her back to Cristina as she watched Lexie walk away.

"Um Dr. Grey are you alright?" Olivia asked her nervously.

"Everything's fine, I'm just talking to Cristina" Meredith explained as she turned back to Cristina but froze, looking around the hallway there was no sign of Cristina.

"Ok then" Olivia answered carefully before slowly walking away.

"I wasn't talking to myself" Meredith yelled out to her but threw her hands up in the air because she knew it was pointless.

************

"What are you doing for dinner?" Mark asked Lexie, walking into the scrub room where Lexie just stepped out of a surgery with Arizona.

"I'm not having sex with you" Lexie answered bluntly as she scrubbed her hands clean again.

Mark rolled his eyes while he tried not to smile at her, "I'm going to pretend like you didn't say that…"

"Oh how thoughtful of you" Lexie interrupted him with a sarcastic voice.

"What is your problem?" Mark asked with a frown on his face, he didn't really think that the whole Karev thing was that important to her.

"Well apparently I've given Derek permission to take my _husband_ to a fight club" Lexie hissed under her breath so no one could hear her.

"Fight club…woman have you been smoking something?" Mark asked with a smirk.

Lexie shook her head and tried to make an escape from the scrub room but Mark blocked her off, "ok I'm sorry, why don't you try and explain it to me" Mark tried to reason with her.

"Cristina told me about what happened the last time Derek planned a 'fishing trip' and I'm using the word fishing loosely because apparently very little fishing actually took place" Lexie explained with a strained voice.

Mark held his hands up in defence, "okay can I just point out that I actually wasn't there, I was here in the hospital" Mark defended himself.

"Yeah well…"

"Well nothing" Mark tried to reassure Lexie, "last time was completely different to this time ok. First off Burke and Geo…there are other doctors that won't be there and Hunt will make sure that we're all on our best behaviour" Mark reasoned with Lexie.

"Why were you asking about dinner?" Lexie asked with a sulky voice, she didn't want to admit that she had been behaving childish so she was hoping to change the subject.

"There's something I need to show you, and it might take awhile so I've cleared your schedule for the night" Mark answered cryptically and tried to walk away but Lexie grabbed him by his scrub shirt.

"Mark Sloan you're up to something" Lexie pointed out with a stern look.

"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not" Mark chanted with a cheeky smile and he began to walk away again.

"I wasn't asking, I was telling you…you're up to something Mark Sloan and I am going to find out what it is" Lexie yelled out to his retreating back.

************

"No peeking" Mark repeated for the millionth time since he had covered her eyes with a blindfold while trying to keep one eye on the road.

"Mark I swear to god if you don't tell me where we're going somebody is going to die and it won't be me" Lexie chanted with an irritated smile on her face.

Mark chuckled at Lexie's impatience, "lucky for me that we're here then huh" Mark declared with a proud grin. Pulling the car into park Mark helped Lexie out of the car and led her inside the house.

"Ok when I say open you can open your eyes understood" Mark instructed Lexie, his hands lingering over the tied knot.

Lexie nodded her head in excitement as she felt Mark loosen the blind fold over her eyes. She couldn't help let out a gasp as she looked around in complete amazement.

"Do you like it?" Mark asked nervously, he was terrified that Lexie wasn't going to like the house, but the huge smile on her face was quickly easing his fears. "It was built in 1912" Mark began to explain to Lexie as he gent took her hand and led her through the house.

"There's a large terrace that looks out on to a lake, it has a large library…."

"What about a fireplace?" Lexie asked with a seductive grin on her face, she still remembered a passing comment that Mark had once made about wanting a house with a fireplace.

"The fireplace is in the living room madam" Mark answered as he guided Lexie towards the living room with a smug grin on his face.

Mark felt good doing something for Lexie that obviously made her so happy, but that really wasn't anything new for Mark. He was quickly beginning to love giving her little surprises…especially when it put such a smile on her face.

Lexie quickly walked into the living room and squealed in delight as she looked around the living room which had an antique fireplace along with a bay window that over looked the lake.

"Where did you even find this place?" Lexie asked in amazement, she couldn't take her eyes off of the view of the sun setting over the lake.

"Danny, it was his old man's place but he died about a year ago…it's just been sitting here doing nothing for a year and we got to talking last week and hey presto…."

"Wait a minute you mean you own this place" Lexie asked as the shock begun to set in.

Mark shook his head, opening his jacket Mark pulled out a piece of folded paper from his inside coat pocket. "If I could have your autograph here madam then you can start redecorating until your hearts content" Mark explained.

Lexie hesitantly took the papers, that Danny's lawyer had faxed through, from Mark and began shaking her head in protest. "Mark you can't do this" Lexie argued in disbelief.

Mark laughed at the ridiculousness of Lexie's statement, "you don't seriously think that I'd buy us a house and not have you listed as part-owner" Mark argued back.

"You're paying for this house…"

"So?"

"So it seems pretty unfair for me to be living in this gorgeous house and to be listed as an honour when I haven't contributed to it in any financial capacity" Lexie tried to reason with Mark.

Mark ran his hands down the sides of Lexie's arms before wrapping them around her waist, pulling Lexie closer Mark kissed her gently on the lips. "Think of it as a thank you present" Mark suggested.

"A thank you for what exactly?" Lexie asked bluntly, as far as she was concerned there was nothing that Mark needed to be grateful for.

"Oh I don't know maybe for giving me a chance, for believing in me" Mark teased but quickly went all serious on Lexie. Tucking a piece of Lexie's hair behind her ear Mark studied her face; he knew that he'd never get tired of waking up to her for the rest of his life.

"For marrying me" Mark answered seriously, "there aren't many women who would think of me as boyfriend material let alone husband material but you did. You had to choose between your father and me…and I know that it couldn't have been easy but you did, so this is my way of trying to make sure that you never regret it" Mark explained.

"_Normal _husbands buy their wives a bunch of roses, but I guess that's the reason why I love you…you _don't_ do normal and that's why you're the best husband in the world" Lexie praised Mark as she wrapped her arms around him and jumped up; wrapping her thighs around Mark's waist she tightened her grip on him. "And I could never regret choosing you, it will always be _you_" Lexie emphasised.

"I should really do this spontaneous stuff more often" Mark teased with a smirk, Mark had never been one to talk about his feelings and he really preferred to change the subject.

Running a finger down the side of Mark's face Lexie kissed him ferociously like she couldn't get enough of him. "Didn't you hear about rule number 12 of the marriage clause" Lexie asked with a playful grin.

"Rule number 12?"

Lexie nodded her head, "rule number 12, when husband performs a good deed for no apparent terms then he shall be rewarded with sex" Lexie explained in a serious tone while trying really hard not to laugh.

"Reward sex uh, I'm starting to like this whole marriage thing…there seems to be sex for every occasion" Mark teased, "I really don't know why people are so afraid of it" Mark commented casually.

He really didn't understand why so many people feared the idea of getting married, but Mark was pretty sure that Lexie was the reason that he didn't fear it as much as he should have been.

************

**Ok you know the deal, you review and I update…see the button, come on :-)**


	12. Chapter 12

************

**Chapter 12**

"Mark move your ass" Derek shouted from the bottom of the stairs, he was beginning to get impatient with Mark's stalling…they were already running late and Derek couldn't wait to get out there.

"I'm gonna kill him" Mark grumbled with his head buried in his pillow, it was 4:05am and he still hadn't made an effort to get out of bed.

Lexie giggled at Mark's less than enthusiastic response to a day of fishing, "look at it this way, Derek will have a lot of fun so he should be grumpy free for the next few days" Lexie tried to comfort him.

Mark scoffed, "so I'm supposed to have a crappy birthday just to make Derek happy?"

Lexie nodded her head as she rolled over and straddled his lap, "If you behave today then I'll give you your birthday present when you get home" Lexie promised before kissing Mark along his jaw line.

"You know this isn't encouraging me to go finishing, you're supposed to be giving me a reason to get _out _of bed not stay in it" Mark argued with a seductive grin, while his fingers lightly brushed up against Lexie's hare shoulder.

"Mark I swear to god I'll come up there" they heard Derek scream with a tone that he only reserved for the Interns.

Slapping Mark lightly on the chest Lexie giggled as she rolled off of him, "you better get going unless you want Derek barging in here and seeing me naked" Lexie teased.

"Fine" Mark groaned and reluctantly rolled out of bed, "this birthday present of yours better be worth this" Mark warned Lexie as he leant down to kiss her, "and it better be something other than sex" Mark informed her.

"So are you telling me that you _don't _want birthday sex?" Lexie asked with a teasing smile on her face.

Mark paused with his right boot half way on and looked over his shoulder at Lexie, "I meant there better be something _as well _as sex" Mark corrected himself.

Lexie sat up in bed and held her right hand up in the air while her left hand held on to the bed sheet that was wrapped around her naked body tightly. "I Alexandra Caroline Grey-_Sloan_ solemnly swear that when my husband returns from his fishing expedition that there will be a birthday present _as well as _sex waiting for him when he comes home" Lexie teased while trying not to laugh.

Mark shook his head and chose not to make a moment about her cheekiness in case it got him into trouble. "What do you have planned for today anyway?" Mark asked instead.

"Well since you boys have this whole fishing trip planned today I told Bailey that I'd go into work for a few hours" Lexie answered.

Mark screwed up his face in disgust, "this is so wrong…it's my birthday on a _Saturday_ and I'm spending it fishing while my wife is at work. We should be at _home_, doing nothing but lazing around in bed" Mark argued.

Before Lexie could answer they were interrupted by someone banging on the door, "Mark get your ass out here right now, we're already half-an hour late picking Hunt up" Derek growled.

"Remind me why we agreed not to move into the house until after my birthday" Mark asked with a serious look on his face.

The day he had shown Lexie the house they had a long talk about it and decided not to move into the new house until after Mark's birthday. Mark hadn't been happy about it but Lexie didn't want to make this huge upheaval the same week they had buried George, she was worried about how Meredith would react to more change.

Sighing in defeat Mark rose from the bed, kissed Lexie one more time and then opened the door only to be met with a glaring look on Derek's face. Mark held his hands up self-defence, "first off it's my birthday so you can't be mad at me and secondly blame her" Mark told Derek while pointing over his shoulder at Lexie.

"Lexie insisted on birthday sex so I really didn't have any chance of saying no, so unless you want Meredith yelling at you for seeing her little sister naked I suggest you turn around and start walking buddy" Mark ordered as he pushed Derek away so he'd leave.

"It better be a really _big_ present" Mark hissed at Lexie before closing the door and following Derek to the dreaded fishing trip.

************

"See this isn't so bad" Derek gloated with a happy smile on his face, while he had been angry at Mark for delaying their trip the instant he stepped foot onto the land he could feel the tension leave his body.

Mark shook his head while trying not to smile, despite having always protested whenever Derek dragged him fishing he always ended up enjoying himself…not that he'd ever admit it to anyone.

"Has Lexie spoken to her father?" Owen asked Mark just as he finished reeling in his line, he thought he had caught something but it ended up being nothing.

Mark looked at Owen sceptically; the man was still referring to Meredith as Dr. Grey despite the fact that she was his girlfriend's best friend and the same went for Alex and Izzie. Yet for some reason Owen hadn't referred to Lexie as Dr. Grey, she was just Lexie, and Mark found that weird and it made him felt slightly territorially.

"No" Mark answered like just the thought of Thatcher was going to make him sick, "she's hasn't spoken to him since…since Wednesday" Mark answered.

"She's going to have to talk to him at some point" Derek argued reluctantly. He was the last person who was going to defend Thatcher but he knew Lexie, and he knew that if she left things the way they were she'd end up regretting it.

Mark looked over at Derek like he had suddenly grown a second head, "if it was up to me she'd never see that drunken bastard ever again".

"Trust me Mark I'd feel a lot better knowing that Meredith and Lexie were staying right away from Thatcher but he's their father" Derek argued.

Owen scoffed, "just because you share the same DNA as someone doesn't make you a father, you actually have to _earn _that title. And as far as I'm concerned Lexie's making the right choice by taking a step back" Owen sided.

"Is that so Hunt?" the Chief asked sceptically, while he decided to stay out of the conversation of Thatcher Grey, because he was a bit too close to the subject, he found their various reactions to the man interesting.

"Yes Sir" Owen answered, "I've seen what the booze can do to good men, the lives and the family's it's destroyed. Lexie doesn't deserve to put herself through all that pain for nothing; he has to be willing to admit he has a problem…"

"Well his not" Mark reassured Owen as he took up his spot beside Derek and threw his line into the lake, it even managed to pass Derek's line. As the line feel into the water he smiled at Derek with a cocky grin.

"No one likes a smart ass" Derek told Mark; that was the one thing that he always hated about taking Mark fishing. Mark always managed to cast a longer line despite everything Derek tried to do to beat him, and Mark refused to reveal his trick.

"So Shepherd how long until you and Mere actually make this post-it marriage of yours a legal marriage?" Alex asked as he reached for a beer. He really didn't want to spend the whole day talking about alcoholic fathers; he'd had his fill of it growing up and was more than ready to move on.

Derek shrugged his shoulders, "no idea" he answered and it was the truth, "Meredith and I haven't really talked about it and right now we're comfortable with the way things are".

"Well just don't leave it too long because if I've learnt one thing about being married is that it's a guarantee" Alex joked.

"A guarantee to what exactly Karev?" the Chief asked just as he threw his own line into the lake.

"When you're dating they have options, they can _choose_ how they feel about you. But when you're married….well lets just say that legally they _have _to love you" Alex explained.

Derek, Mark, Owen and the Chief all chuckled at Alex's little joke despite how stupid it was. Mark silently had to agree with Alex on that one, knowing that he and Lexie were married gave him a sense of security that he didn't have when they were dating and he was grateful for that.

Mark sighed because he was suddenly reminded of this huge secret that he and Lexie were keeping from the people they loved, the people they thought of as their family. His high quickly came crashing down and it took everything in him to not just blurt out they he understood what Karev meant.

"Well aren't we all smug and superior just because he's married" Derek teased Alex; Alex could be a good guy when he wanted to be and the last few months had definitely proved that to Derek.

"Look all I'm saying is that you don't know what's waiting around the corner for you, so why put it off if you can you do it as soon as possible" Alex argued.

"Hey I'm happy with the way things are between and Meredith, as far as we're concerned she's my wife and I'm her husband. Why don't you ask the _birthday_ boy how long he's going to keep Lexie waiting around before he finally bites the bullet" Derek teased with a wicked smile on his face.

The Chief choked on his beer at hearing Derek ask _that_ question, inside the hospital it was easy to keep Mark and Lexie's secret because he was a very busy man and he didn't have time to talk to Derek. But out here, out in the woods he had all the time in the world and spilling the beans was the last thing he wanted to be doing.

"Sir you ok?" Owen asked with a confused look on his face, he didn't know what was so shocking about Derek's joke.

"He's fine" Mark answered through gritted teeth, "his beer just went down the wrong way" Mark added while giving the Chief a subtle glance, telling him to knock it off and stick to their agreement.

"Uh yeah, it went down the wrong way" the Chief quickly confirmed Mark's statement; he tried to look at anything but Derek.

Derek gave Chief a funny look before he turned his attention back to Mark. "In all seriousness Mark what is going on with you and Lexie, I mean I'm not trying to freak you out but do you see marriage down the line?" Derek asked.

The Chief groaned at Derek's question, the man just wasn't going to let it go and it got all their attention.

"Chief…" Alex trailed with a dubious look on his face.

"Just stubbed my toe" the Chief lied with a nervous smile, hoping that they all bought it.

Mark shook his head, his birthday fishing trip was quickly turning into the fishing trip from hell. Mark looked over at Derek and saw that he was waiting for an answer to his question.

_Where do I see things going? We're already married _he wanted shout out, he wanted to tell Derek the truth but he knew that Lexie would never forgive him for outing them like that.

"I see a forever" Mark answered bluntly, he settled for the truth but with a few glaring omissions about just how close he was to that forever. "I told you once that I can't change, but I can change, I _have_ changed" Mark emphasised. "The leaf has turned, it's a new leaf and it's because of Lexie…so you want to know where I see this going Derek, I see a forever" Mark declared with a proud smile.

The Chief nodded his head in approval, he had never heard Mark speak like that before but it did put any concerns he had about Mark rushing into his marriage aside.

Derek sighed in relief and smiled at his best friend, that's all he needed to hear. "Good, now I can give you this" Derek announced. Putting down his fishing rod Derek quickly jogged over to his backpack and pulled out a bottle.

"Here you go" Derek offered holding a bottle of vintage single malt scotch out to Mark.

Mark looked at the bottle then back at Derek, "are you sure we should be drinking this with a hug lake right in front of us?" Mark asked sceptically.

Derek chuckled at Mark's joke, "we're not going to get completely drunk and go skinny dipping if that's what you're worried about…besides what could go wrong".

Alex scoffed as he walked over to Derek and took the bottle from Derek, "tell that to Joe's partner and the stitches he had to get" Alex joked before cracking open the lid and taking a swig from the bottle.

Derek shook his head and turned his attention back to Mark, "if it makes you feel any better it was Lexie's idea, she was the one who bought the bottle".

Alex winced at the burning sensation, he laughed at Mark's hesitation. "What's the matter Sloan you need your _girlfriend's_ permission to drink" Alex teased while waving the bottle in front of Mark's face.

Mark snatched the bottle from Alex and shook his head while trying not to smile at him, "happy birthday to me" Mark toasted before taking a very long swig of the amber liquid.

"Who's driving home?" the Chief asked the second he saw Mark pass the bottle off to Derek.

Mark shook his head, "now see if you had told me there was gonna be drinking I wouldn't have complained so much" Mark pointed out with a teasing grin on his face.

"Some hell of a fight club" Owen scoffed shaking his head before he joined the party and took a sip.

************

"So what did you get him?" Meredith asked Lexie, suddenly appearing out no where at the nurses' station, with Derek gone Meredith had decided to follow Lexie's lead and also went into work.

"Get who what?" Lexie asked while trying to pretend like she had no idea what Meredith was talking about.

Meredith rolled her eyes, "_Mark's birthday present_" she emphasised. "You remember him don't you, your boyfriend…the reason why my husband is out in the woods instead of being here with me" Meredith teased.

She wouldn't admit it to Derek but she was grateful that he had has his person back…that he and Mark had managed to work through their problems because it gave her a sense of comfort knowing that Mark was there for Derek if she couldn't be.

"I'm not telling" Lexie answered with a wide grin on her face, she had spent the last four days trying to find the perfect gift for Mark and she wanted him to be the first person to know what it was.

It was even more important to Lexie for her to get this right because it was the first birthday between them as a married couple, but more so because Lexie knew that Mark hadn't really ever had anyone make a fuss over his birthday before.

"Oh come on you have to tell me" Meredith argued, "I swear I won't tell a single soul" she promised.

Lexie shook her head as she laughed at her sister; she knew how much Meredith hated being kept in the dark when there was a secret to be known. "Sorry but I'm not talking" Lexie reiterated before quickly escaping from Meredith's interrogation.

"You know I'm going to find out right" Meredith called out to Lexie's retreating back.

Lexie waved her hand in the air as she continued to walk down the hallway in search of Callie.

It took Lexie twenty minutes before she finally found Callie in the Attending's lounge, "please tell me you have it" Lexie asked.

"On birthday present coming right up" Callie declared, passing Lexie the small little package wrapped up with a ribbon around it.

"You are a life saver" Lexie sighed in relief, holding the present closely to her chest.

Callie giggled at Lexie's dramatics over the present, "why'd you have it sent to my place anyway?" Callie asked curiously.

"Because Mark's like a little kid, if he found it he would have pestered me until I let him open it" Lexie sighed, between Mark and Derek sometimes it was like living with little children.

Looking down at her watch Lexie yelped in shock, it was already 3pm which meant the boys were going to be home soon and she still hadn't finished preparing for the rest of the night.

"Thanks for this Dr. Torres but I've got to run" Lexie thanked her while running out the door.

Callie shook her head, while the idea of Mark and Lexie together might not have made sense to some people it made perfect sense to Callie.

************

"So was it as bad as you thought it would be?" Alex asked as he made his first real attempt to fish since they got there.

"Was what as bad?" Mark asked with a frown on his face.

"Turning another year older" Alex explained with a sly smile on his face.

"Karev why do you have a sudden fascination with Sloan's age?" the Chief barked; he was getting tired of hearing Alex bring the subject up.

Alex shrugged his shoulders, "I'm just curious to know how a man his age could keep someone like Lexipedia" Alex teased.

"Trust me Karev I keep asking myself the same question" Mark reassured him as he quickly took a sip from the bottle before passing it off to Owen.

"So have you found the answer?" Owen asked.

"Nope, I've just learnt not to question it and go with the flow" Mark answered with a proud grin on his face while tossing his fishing rod into the back of Derek's car.

"Mark we still have another hour before we need to be home, there's no reason to rush" Derek pointed out while trying not to laugh at Mark's eagerness to get home.

Mark rubbed his hands together with a wicked grin on his face, "I have a gorgeous, sexy, 24 year old woman waiting at home to give me my birthday present so there is definitely a reason for me to be rushing my friend" Mark declared.

"I thought Lexie gave you your birthday present this morning?" Derek asked with a cheeky smile.

"I'm not listening, I'm not listening" the Chief chanted while shaking his head with his eyes closed, he tried to block out the conversation.

"Problem Chief?" Alex asked while trying not to laugh at the older man.

"Yes there is a problem Karev, do you honestly think that I want to be listening to my doctors talk about their _sex_ lives" the Chief barked as he quickly followed Mark's lead and dumped his fishing rod in the back of the car, he had lost any interest he may have had to keep fishing.

"Who was talking about sex, I was talking about an actual present. Lexie promised me a present, and I want my present _now_" Mark clarified for the Chief like a little kid.

Derek sighed in defeat because his fishing trip was officially over, "ok, ok, let's get the birthday boy home before he throws a tantrum" Derek teased.

In half an hour the boys had managed to pack everything up and hop into the car, Mark couldn't wait to get home and actually spend his birthday the way he really wanted to.

**************

Mark sighed in relief as he stepped through the front door of Meredith's house, as much as he loved spending time with Derek it could never compete with Lexie. Mark chuckled at that thought, there was a time when all he needed was a scalpel in one hand and his best friend beside him, but Seattle changed that and it was definitely for the better.

"Hello birthday boy" Lexie greeted Mark with an infectious smile on her face as she came down the stairs, "how was fishing?"

Mark shrugged his shoulders casually, "nobody required medical attention" he reassured Lexie.

Lexie giggled, "good to know" she answered just as Mark walked up the stairs to meet her half-way.

"So when do I get my present" Mark whispered in his charmingly seductive voice.

Lexie shook her head while trying not to laugh at her husband, "I'd be careful Mark, people might actually start to think that you're enjoying your birthday" Lexie warned him.

"Turning a year older isn't so bad when I have you" Mark declared just as he leaned in to kiss Lexie.

Lexie immediately pushed Mark away and tilted her head back, "you need a shower, you stink" she declared with a repulsed look on her face.

"I don't smell that bad" Mark argued while rolling his eyes, he'd never understand why women always overreacted to everything.

"_Yes you do_" Lexie emphasised as she carefully leant in to towards Mark so that she was close enough to get another whiff without traumatising her sense of smell.

"You stink of scotch, and woods and fish" Lexie commented before quickly pulling away again, "shower _now_" Lexie ordered while pointing her finger up the stairs.

"Yes mam" Mark answered Lexie mockingly, saluting Lexie like he was in the army Mark quickly marched up the stairs.

Lexie laughed at Mark's crazy behaviour as she made her way downstairs and into the kitchen just as Derek walked in through the back door.

"Hey how was the fishing trip?" Lexie asked, curious to see what Derek had to say.

"No one required medical attention" Derek repeated Mark's answer.

Lexie rolled her eyes while grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge, "did you two rehearse that?" Lexie asked as she walked past Derek. She gagged at the smell coming from Derek because he smelt the same as Mark only worse.

"You stink" Lexie declared, she was struggling not to throw up at the smell of the fish, "when you said you were going fishing I didn't think that you meant you'd be swimming with the fish" Lexie teased while sitting down at the kitchen bench.

Derek shook his head, "women are just way too sensitive" he argued.

"Here you go" Meredith declared as she walked into the kitchen and slapped an envelope against Derek's chest, she screwed her face up in disgust and quickly ran over to the other side of the kitchen where it was far away from Derek.

"Derek Christopher Shepherd you stink, go take a shower _now_" Meredith ordered, pointing towards the hallway that would lead Derek upstairs.

"Mark's already in there" Lexie informed Meredith with a cheeky smile on her face, she'd love to hear Derek try and insult Meredith's over sensitive smell and get out of that one.

"What is this?" Derek asked as he turned the envelope in his hand around as he examined it, he was choosing to ignore them and their complaints about his smell.

Meredith rolled her eyes, "its Mark's birthday present" Meredith explained to Derek like she was talking to a two year old.

"You bought Mark a birthday present?" Derek asked in complete shock but feeling proud of Meredith at the same time.

"Men are idiots" Meredith told Lexie before turning her attention back to Derek, "no _we_ bought Mark a birthday present" Meredith corrected Derek.

"But I already got him his present, I took him fishing" Derek argued.

"Taking someone _fishing_ is not a birthday present Derek and if you think it is then Mark has a really crappy brother" Meredith stated.

Lexie took a sip of her water to try and top herself from laughing, luckily for all of them Mark had finished with his shower.

"There I had a shower and I no longer smell on woods and fish so _now _do I get my present?" Mark asked as he entered the room. He walked over to Lexie and stole her bottle of water and took a sip from it, it was a welcome change to the scotch they had been drinking all day.

"I'm going for a shower" Derek announced, deciding it was better not to argue with Meredith. Besides he didn't want to ruin this for her, she had gone out of her way to buy Mark a present and he was proud of her for that.

Meredith walked over to the dining table to pick up the envelope that Derek had left lying there and held it out to Mark, "Happy birthday Sloan".

Mark froze in confusion as he looked back and forth between Meredith and the envelope hesitantly.

"What is it?" Mark asked cautiously as though it was going to bite him.

Meredith rolled her eyes again, "it's your birthday present" she explained in exasperation. Meredith didn't really see what the big deal was about her buying Mark a birthday present.

Mark looked at Lexie doubtfully but then hesitantly took the envelope from Meredith, opening the card up Mark's face broke out into the biggest smile Lexie had even seen before.

Without even thinking Mark picked Meredith up off the floor and twirled her around the room in excitement. "I love you Meredith Grey" Mark declared, giddy about the present he couldn't take his eyes off of.

"Ok what the hell has my sister bought you?" Lexie asked with a playful glare directed at Meredith.

Mark held his present up to Lexie with a proud smile, "two tickets to the Seattle Mariners vs. New York Yankees game next week" Mark declared before turning his attention back to Meredith. "How the hell did you even get these, I was trying to get tickets for weeks but they were all sold out" Mark asked in complete awe of Meredith.

Meredith shrugged her shoulders casually like it was no big deal, "I know a guy who knows a guy" Meredith answered rather vaguely.

Mark quickly brushed Meredith's answer off; he didn't really care _how _she had gotten them because all that mattered was that she had and now Mark had tickets.

"You know if I had known that baseball tickets were going to make you this happy I wouldn't have wasted so much time and effort into the gift I got you" Lexie teased with a playful pout of her face.

Mark finally tore his eyes away from the tickets and leant over towards Lexie, with his hands cupping her face Mark gently kissed Lexie. "I already love what you bought me" Mark promised her.

Lexie shook her head while trying not to smile at how charming Mark could be, "you don't even know what it is" she pointed out.

"Don't care, just knowing that it's from you makes it the best birthday present I've ever gotten" Mark reassured Lexie.

"Ok what's for dinner?" Derek asked, walking into the kitchen and interrupting Mark and Lexie's moment.

Lexie reluctantly pulled away from Mark's gaze and looked over at Derek, "you and Meredith are on you own" she informed Derek.

"Oh really and do tell Lexie where are _we_ going exactly?" Mark asked curiously.

Lexie shook her head, "you'll just have to wait and see" she answered before quickly standing. "I just have to run upstairs and grab something but I'll meet you outside at the car" Lexie instructed Mark.

"Don't I need to change if we're going out?" Mark asked with a confused look on his face, he only had on a pair of faded out blue jeans and a grey t-shirt that highlighted all of Mark's muscles in the right places.

Lexie looked Mark up and down in delight because he looked far too good to resist but Lexie still preferred him in his scrubs more than anything else. Biting down on her bottom lip she shook her head, "nope you're good" she reassured Mark before making a quick escape.

"Well you heard the lady, you two are on your own" Mark repeated to Derek and Meredith while grabbing his car keys. He began to walk out of the kitchen when Mark suddenly stopped and turned to Derek, "keep next Saturday free you and I have plans" he ordered.

"What plans?" Derek asked dubiously, he always got nervous when Mark made plans and refused to explain what they were.

"We're putting my birthday present you and Meredith bought me too good use" Mark explained, with a huge grin on his face and a wink at Meredith Mark quickly left the house.

"What the hell did you buy him?" Derek asked; trying to act worried about what was going to happen to him.

"Mariners vs. Yankees tickets" Meredith answered proudly.

Derek whistled in approval, "Mere those are hard to find, they would have cost you a fortune".

Meredith gave Derek a wicked smiled, "actually they cost _you _are fortune" Meredith corrected Derek.

Derek opened his mouth to speak to say something when Meredith beat him to it, "serves you right for leaving your wallet lying around the house" Meredith called out before quickly running out of the room.

"Meredith Grey-Shepherd" Derek yelled as he quickly chased her up the stairs.

************

"When the hell did you have time to do all of this?" Mark asked in amazement as he looked around the terrace of their new home in awe.

Lexie shrugged her shoulders, "Callie helped out a bit" she explained with a timid look on her face. She and Callie had quickly been becoming closer friends over the last few weeks and she knew that Mark was over the moon about it.

Lexie took a hold of Mark's hand and led him towards the table set up with plates, a bottle of champion and candles. "I know that you probably think that it's a bit corny but I just wanted to do something really special for you" Lexie explained nervously.

He didn't understand the how or the why of it but Lexie had gone to all this trouble for him just because it was his birthday and that made Mark love Lexie even more, if that was at all possible.

Mark quickly shook his head; turning to Lexie he cupped her face in his hands before pressing a warm kiss against her lips.

Lexie shivered at his touch, it still amazed her how it never got old…how the slightest touch from Mark could send her entire body into a tail spin.

"It's perfect" Mark whispered in Lexie's ear with a sincere and innocent smile.

"Good then you can sit down and I'll bring you your dinner" Lexie ordered before quickly skipping back into the house.

Mark sighed in content as he made his way over to the edge of the terrace so he could a get better look at the view of the lake. He couldn't wait to say goodbye to Meredith's house and finally make this their home, Mark had never really had a place to call home but now he did and it was all because of Lexie.

"Dinner is served" Lexie announced with a cheeky smile as she made her way over to the table and gently set down the plates.

Mark was mesmerised by the sight of Lexie smiling at him as she stood by the table waiting for Mark, he sometimes still couldn't believe that she was with him…that she had _chosen_ to spend the rest of her life with him.

But Mark had meant what he said earlier that day; he wasn't going to question it. Instead he was going to count his blessings and pray like hell that he didn't screw it up.

They ate in a comfortable silence until Lexie started to fidget in her seat nervously, she was anxious to give Mark his birthday present.

"I'll be right back" Lexie told Mark before quickly running into the house, she couldn't wait any longer.

Walking back outside Lexie shivered as the cool breeze brushed against her bare arms, but shaking it off she made her way back over to the table with Mark's present in hand.

Seeing Lexie make her way back over to the table Mark quickly swallowed the food in his mouth and pushed his plate away. Mark knew that it was silly, because he was a fully grown man, but he couldn't help get excited at noticing the present Lexie was holding.

Lexie sat back down opposite Mark with a nervous smile on her face, "happy birthday" she declared as Lexie held Mark's present out to him.

Mark hesitantly took the present from Lexie and quickly peeled the wrapping away.

His heart stopped the second he laid eyes on the worn and tattered brown leather book cover which had the words _Don Quixote_ inscribed on it; he'd recognise it anywhere and Mark was lost for words.

Looking up at Lexie Mark struggled not to let his emotions get the better of him, "how did you…" Mark trailed off. He really didn't know what to say or believe, yet his suspicions were confirmed as he slowly opened the book and spotted the familiar handwriting on the inside cover.

Lexie sighed in relief as she saw that Mark liked his present, "Derek wasn't much help when it came to finding you a present so I called Mrs. Shepherd and she…she told me about the book" Lexie explained timidly.

"He left this to me before he died, he gave it to me for my tenth birthday" Mark told Lexie with a fond smile on his face, it was still one the greatest gifts he had ever been given.

"Mr. Shepherd?" Lexie asked, while Carolyn had told her about how attached Mark was to the book she hadn't fully explained the story.

Mark nodded his head in silence, he needed a minute to try and get his head together because he was finding it hard to talk.

"When we were little Derek was slower than I was at finishing his homework so I used to pester him…until one day Mr. Shepherd got fed up listening to us so he took me into his office and started reading this book to me until Derek finished his homework" Mark reminisced as his fingers gently ran across the golden inscription on the cover.

"Did he read from it often?" Lexie asked cautiously, she loved hearing Mark talk about his childhood with Derek because it reassured her that he wasn't as alone as he had thought he was.

Mark nodded his head, "it became out regular thing, he said that Derek didn't have much interest in early literature…neither did I, it was just nice to have someone spend a little time with me".

"I still remember the look on Derek's face when I told him that my father had thrown the book away, he looked like he was going to kill me and I didn't blame him…it was Mr. Shepherd's favourite book and he had trusted me with it" Mark explained.

"How come…I mean why did your father throw the book away?" Lexie asked.

Mark shrugged his shoulders, "you know to this day I still haven't figured that one out. All I remember was that one minuted I was lying in my reading the book the next my father came charging into the room and grabbed it off me, I never saw it since" Mark told Lexie sombrely.

"But it still doesn't explain how you found it" Mark pointed out with a frown on his face.

"Mrs. Shepherd gave me the name of the woman who had been your housekeeper at the time, I looked her up and it turns out she had taken the book before your dad had a chance to throw it away. She had always planned to give it back to you once your dad had calmed down…but she forgot and you seemed to have moved on from it" Lexie explained.

With the book in one hand Mark rose from his chair and made his way around to Lexie, leaning down Mark quickly kissed her before pulling her out of her own chair and guided her back in to the house.

The house was still furnished with all the furniture that had been in it when they bought the house; they had agreed not to worry about it until they actually made the move.

"Mark what are we doing?" Lexie asked as she watched him gently put the book down onto the coffee table before turning his attention to Lexie.

Making his way over to Lexie Mark pulled her body up against his before seizing her mouth in a frantic kiss. She hadn't been expecting it but at the same time she was more than happy to oblige in whatever Mark wanted.

Gasping for air as Mark's mouth moved from her lips to her throat, Lexie arched her back while stretching her head back to encourage Mark to keep going. Taking her mouth again, he started guiding them towards the bedroom; Lexie immediately took advantage to free Mark of his shirt as they made there way into the bedroom.

Lexie was momentarily distracted by the sight of his bared chest right in front of her face for the taking, her hand traveled upward greedily, feeling the muscles in Mark's body that she had come to memorise.

Pushing Mark down onto the bed Lexie settled herself in his lap, linking her arms around the back of his neck. "So can we at least say that this is in the top five birthdays?" Lexie asked with a seductive smile.

Mark scoffed, "best five…I'd say more like Best birthday _ever_" he reassured her as he cupped her face in his hands. Seizing her mouth in a vicious kiss, he flipped them over, leaving Lexie at his mercy beneath him. Definitely best birthday ever Mark reassured himself and something told him that he'd be looking forward to next year.

************

**Ok you know the deal, you review and I update…see the button, come on :-)**


	13. Chapter 13

************

**Chapter 13**

"Mark I'm not saying that it's never going to happen, I'm just asking you to be a little bit more patient" Lexie tried to placate Mark.

Mark shook his head in disbelief; he was pacing the length of Meredith's living room floor because he didn't trust himself to sit still. He couldn't believe that Lexie was doing this; he couldn't believe that she was asking him to keep pretending like there wasn't this life changing secret that he was keeping from Derek and Callie.

Lately Mark felt like all he'd been doing was keeping secrets, first their marriage and now the house.

Two weeks had already passed since Mark's birthday and Lexie was stalling on the whole moving out of Meredith's house. Mark was starting to get the feeling that Lexie wasn't as keen on this as he was; but he wouldn't let his mind wonder on that thought for too long.

If he did then Mark knew he'd convince himself that Lexie was beginning to regret marrying him in the first place.

"Mark" Lexie called out softly, she didn't want to make him any angrier then he already was but they needed to talk this out.

"Why, just tell me why the hell you're stalling again?" Mark exclaimed in anger, it was getting harder for him to keep his anger in check. But it had been the third time in the last week that Lexie had come up with an excuse to not tell Meredith that they were moving out.

Lexie sighed in defeat; she didn't know how she was supposed to explain it to Mark when she didn't even understand it herself. "Mark I'm just asking you to be a little bit patient…"

"That's all I've been Lexie, I've given you _three weeks_ worth of patience" Mark yelled loudly, neither of them had to watch what they were saying considering the fact that they were home alone. "I'm not a patient man Lexie, but for some insane reason I am when it comes you. I've done _everything_ you've asked of me…"

"I know that" Lexie reassured him, she didn't want Mark to think for one second that she didn't appreciate how accommodating he'd been over the last few weeks.

"So then stop playing games with me Lexie and just tell me what the hell is going on" Mark demanded. He had a stern look on his face, the same look he reserved only for the other Interns and that scared Lexie.

"No one is playing games Mark" Lexie argued.

Mark shook his head in disbelief, "you can't even give me a straight answer, why is it so difficult for you to just answer the damn question?" Mark growled.

"I'm just worried that Meredith won't be able to handle this, you've seen how out it she's been since Mrs. O'Malley came to see her" Lexie argued.

At the time of George's death Mrs. O'Malley had been too distraught to really understand the details of _how _it had all happened. It was only a few days ago that she showed up at the hospital asking Meredith to explain everything to her.

"If it isn't Meredith then it's your father; if it isn't your father then it's Meredith" Mark hissed. "So naturally I'm just curious when it's actually going to be my turn, when are you actually going to put me first…or do you need to pencil it in between surgeries?" Mark asked sarcastically.

"Why are you behaving like this?" Lexie asked in surprise, she knew that Mark wouldn't be happy about this but she didn't think that he'd react like he was.

"Because I'm your _husband_" Mark exclaimed in exasperation, he threw his hands up in the air because he didn't know what else to do.

"What did he just say?" Meredith asked Derek, she was stunned by what she had just heard when they walked in on Mark and Lexie.

Lexie turned on her heel to see her sister and Derek standing in the doorway of the living room, both of them sporting looks of shock on their faces.

"Nothing, Mark didn't say anything" Lexie quickly answered in a panic, this wasn't how all of this was supposed to happen.

Mark shook his head; he wasn't the kind of guy who repeatedly hit his head against a brick wall and he refused to start now. "I'm done" Mark declared in frustration and began to make his way out of the room.

"Mark please don't walk away" Lexie pleaded, she willed herself not to cry in front of Derek and Meredith.

"I'm not the one walking away Lexie _you _are" Mark argued, he couldn't believe that she was turning this back on him.

"Did you just say that you're her _husband_" Meredith emphasised the word after finally finding her voice again.

Mark stood in his spot and decided to let Lexie answer that question, he's next move was entirely dependent upon how Lexie answered that one.

Lexie opened and closed her mouth as she struggled to answer that question, she knew that it shouldn't have been that hard but this wasn't how she had planned on telling Meredith and Derek…but then Lexie should have learnt by now never to count on her plans actually working out.

"Well I guess you have your answer Meredith" Mark spat with a look of contempt on his face.

He could hear Lexie calling his name as he stormed out of the house but he didn't have the energy or the strength to stick around, he knew that it would only end up in a fight and right now he needed as much distance from Lexie as possible.

Lexie felt numb inside, she didn't know _why _she couldn't say the word yes but what she did know was that the feeling she got as Mark walked away was the worst feeling in the world.

Shaking her head in disbelief Lexie quickly ran out of the room and up the stairs, all she wanted to do was crawl into a hole and disappear.

"What…what just happened?" Derek stuttered; his mind was still trying to get past hearing Mark use the word husband.

Rolling her eyes at Derek's slowness Meredith gently slapped him across the face. "Derek you need to snap out of it because you have to make sure that Sloan doesn't screw this up, so go after him" she ordered sternly as she pushed Derek out the front door.

************

Sticking her head through the door of Lexie's room Meredith could tell that she was crying simply by the fact that she was lying in the middle of the bed, curled up into a ball, and shaking.

"Lexie" Meredith called out softly as she made her way over to the bed, "Lex" she tried again when there was no answer the first time.

Meredith paused as she reached the end of the bed; the room was suddenly spinning.

With puffy red eyes Lexie looked over her shoulder and saw Meredith standing near the bed with her hand held out as if she was leaning against an imaginary wall.

"Mer are you ok?" Lexie sniffed with concern.

Meredith shook her head to try and snap out of it and quickly sat down next Lexie before her legs caved in on her. "I should be the one asking that question" Meredith stated, she had a playful smile on her face while she pointed to Lexie's red eyes.

Her head was still trying to deal with the fact that Mark Sloan was now legally a part of her family; it was the last thing she had been expecting to hear when she came home this morning.

"He hates me" Lexie whimpered, she could feel her eyes prickling as the tears began to build up again.

"He doesn't hate you" Meredith tried to reassure her, granted she had never seen Mark that quiet before…which was scary in its own right, but nevertheless Meredith knew without a doubt that Mark didn't hate Lexie.

Shaking her head Lexie pulled herself up and sat beside Meredith, "you saw the way he was looking at me. Mark's never looked at me like that before, for a split second I wasn't even sure if it was Mark" Lexie whispered softly.

Meredith draped her arm around Lexie's shoulders and pulled her in for a hug, "Mark just needs some time to cool down….Derek will talk to him and he'll be back home before you know it" Meredith stated confidently, or at least she hoped that it came out sounding confident.

An awkward silence took over the room. Meredith was trying to find a way to broach the subject of Mark's out burst while Lexie was trying to find a way to make this right.

"You're _Mrs. Sloan"_ Meredith finally stated bluntly, it seemed to be the only words she could articulate.

Nodding her head Lexie looked at Meredith for a split second before they began laughing hysterically. It wasn't the fact that Lexie and Mark were married that was so funny, it was the fact that this had all gotten blown out of proportion.

"When the hell did this all happen?" Meredith asked through fits of laughter.

"The day of George's funeral" Lexie answered, mentioning George sobered the both of them up and the laughing had come to an end.

All the staff at Seattle Grace tried to avoid mentioning his name for now…despite it being three weeks since the funeral the pain of losing George was still so raw.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Meredith inquired with a serious look on her face, deciding that this conversation was far too important to be mucking around.

Lexie shrugged her shoulders; she seemed to be missing all the right answers today and it was frustrating her.

"Mark wanted to tell you…to tell Derek straight away" Lexie came to Mark's defence. She didn't want Derek to think that Mark had purposely gone behind his back again. "But I asked him to keep this just between us and he agreed, he agreed because it's what Mark does…there hasn't been a single thing that Mark's denied me" Lexie softly stated.

"I still don't get why…not _why did you marry him, _but, _why you needed to keep it a secret from us_" Meredith pointed out.

Lexie sighed, "because I was scared, I was scared that you'd all think the only reason we got married was because of George and…and that it would never last" Lexie explained.

But deep down Lexie knew that George was only part of the reason that she had wanted to keep this all a secret, deep down there was more to all of this.

"So the fight downstairs was about Mark getting sick of all the secrecy" Meredith pointed out, it was more of a statement then an actual question.

"He bought me a house" Lexie declared, she figured since the cat was out of the bag she may as well tell Meredith everything. "He bought me this ridiculous large house on the lake that is absolutely to die for and we were fighting over the house".

"Well that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard" Meredith stated; she didn't understand how they could be fighting over a _house_.

"It's not the house we were fighting over" Lexie corrected Meredith, "it was about me. We had agreed that we'd move into the house the week after Mark's birthday…"

"That was _two weeks _ago" Meredith emphasised as she interrupted Lexie's story.

"I know that" Lexie groaned with a glaring look; "you really don't need to remind me. Mark's been doing that enough for the both of you. But I've been stalling, I've been finding excuses not to move out of here and well…today Mark just finally had enough of it".

Meredith couldn't help but smile as she listened to Lexie tell her about how she was freaking out about living with a boy…although Lexie refused to admit it Meredith knew that that was what was really going on here.

"I'm glad you find this entertaining, I feel so much better knowing that you're getting some sort of joy out of watching my relationship with Mark crash and burn" Lexie snapped at Meredith.

She knew that it wasn't fair to take this all out on her sister but right now Lexie needed to be mad at someone else. She couldn't be mad at Mark because he wasn't the one who had done anything wrong and she wasn't ready to accept the blame so Meredith was her only choice.

Meredith rolled her eyes at her sister's exaggeration, "take it easy miss drama queen" Meredith suggested with a playful grin. "Your relationship with Mark isn't crashing and burning. The only reason I'm smiling is because I actually have proof now that you really are a Grey" Meredith explained.

"What" Lexie cried out in confusion, as far as she was concerned her world was falling apart and Meredith wanted to talk about genetics.

"You're freaking out because you have to live with a boy and that's ok, that's what Grey women do. When Derek first showed me the blueprints to his house I freaked, then brought up the whole kissing Rose and Addison situation just to find a reason get _out _of Derek's dream house…of course Derek accused me of always trying to find a reason to doubt him and our relationship…" Meredith carried on like it was water under the bridge.

And it really was, thinking back on it Meredith was proud of how much she had grown over the last year or so and it was all because of Derek.

Lexie let out a shrill cry, "great so know because I'm freaking out about moving in with Mark he's going to divorce me and go off and kiss some stupid nurse named _Rose_" Lexie spat in venom.

Meredith sighed in defeat because that really wasn't what she had meant at all; by the looks of it she had just made things worse for Mark. "See this is why people don't come to me with their problems…I suck at being all bright, smiley and supportive" Meredith stated like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Suddenly Lexie felt guiltier than she already did if that was even possible, not only had she managed to push Mark away but on top of that she had managed to make Meredith feel like her attempt at sisterly advice sucked.

Lexie really was doing a marvellous job at burning her bridges today and it was beyond her control, it was as if her mouth had a mind of its own. She had some major sucking up to do…it was just a matter of getting Mark to actually come home.

Resting her head against Meredith's shoulder Lexie tightened her grip on Meredith's arm in comfort. "You don't suck at this Mer, in fact you're a lot better at it then you think you are" Lexie tried to reassure Meredith.

Meredith nudged Lexie with her elbow and gave her a small smile, "and Mark's not going to divorce you or kiss a nurse named Rose…but if he does Cristina and I can definitely take care of Rose for you" Meredith hinted with a wicked grin on her face.

Shaking their head's Lexie and Meredith couldn't help but laugh at her statement, they both knew that Meredith wasn't serious about Mark leaving Lexie but just the thought of Meredith taking on Nurse Rose was funny.

************

Derek had gone to the first obvious place he could think of in search Mark but he wasn't at Joe's. And despite having given up his room there Derek had even checked the Archfield hotel, but of course he came up empty there to.

Derek knew that going home only to tell Meredith that he couldn't find Mark wasn't an option, Meredith would kill him and Derek didn't particularly want to experience that.

But it wasn't just about Meredith.

As he drove around Seattle in search of Mark Derek was finally able to get his head around the fact that his best friend, his _brother_, was actually married. And Meredith was right; he needed to make sure that Mark didn't screw this up because Derek didn't want to see Mark fall back into his old ways…to become that guy that he had managed to finally walk away from.

Derek stormed down the halls of Seattle Grace in search of Mark. It was the only option, other than leaving the state; that Mark really had left so Derek prayed that he was at the end of the chase.

"What did you're idiot friend do?" Dr. Bailey asked, coming out of no where she cut Derek off.

"Mark?" Derek asked.

"No, you're _other _idiot friend who lived in New York before he moved to Seattle" Dr. Bailey answered Derek sarcastically.

Derek shook his head in disbelief, why did everyone assume that Mark would naturally be the screw up this relationship with Lexie. Derek winced at that thought; he really had no right getting upset with Bailey when that was the exact reason that he had warned Mark to stay away from Lexie.

"Why do you naturally assume that he was the one who screwed up?" Derek asked defensively.

Dr. Bailey eyed Derek hesitantly before sighing in defeat, the look on Derek's face telling her that she needed to get her facts straight first. "I'm sorry, it's my mind…when Sloan's involved it just goes there" Dr. Bailey apologised.

"Did you happen to see where Mark went?" Derek asked pleadingly, his life would be a lot simpler if it was minus the cat and mouse game.

"You mean after he nearly bulldozed an Intern down as he stormed the halls of this hospital?" Dr. Bailey asked.

"We can afford to lose and Intern or two, now where's Mark" Derek demanded, he was quickly losing his patience.

"Last time I saw him he was heading to the Attending's locker room" Dr. Bailey explained.

Derek nodded his head gratefully then began to make his way over, he stoped in his tracks as he noticed that Dr. Bailey was following him.

"Dr. Bailey I can handle this on my own" Derek reassured her.

Shaking her head with a smile on her face Dr. Bailey scoffed at Derek, "do you know what I see when I see you two men trying to figure out the Grey's…dumb and dumber burying themselves in an even bigger hole" Dr. Bailey answered.

Choosing to ignore Dr. Bailey's comment Derek made his way into the Attending's locker room because he knew that it was pointless trying to fight Miranda Bailey.

Stepping through the door Derek spotted Mark in the corner of the room pulling his dark blue scrub shirt on, "you need to go home" Derek declared as he made his way over to Mark with Bailey following right behind.

Turning his back to Derek and Dr. Bailey Mark slammed his locker door shut, "I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be" Mark grunted.

Rolling her eyes at Mark's childish behaviour Dr. Bailey slapped Derek across the arm to move aside and took a step closer to Mark. "I don't know what you did or what she did and quite frankly I don't care, but you need to go home…hiding in this hospital is not going to make your problems go away, it's only going to make things worse" Dr. Bailey tried to explain.

She knew what it was like to hide out in the hospital when there were problems going on in your personal life, the hospital offered a nice excuse. But she didn't want to see Mark make the same mistakes that she did.

"Mark please just go home and talk this out with Lexie" Derek tired to reason with him.

"Well excuse me if I really don't feel like going home to a _wife _who can't even bring herself to acknowledge the fact that our marriage exists" Mark exclaimed in anger, finally turning to face Derek and Dr. Bailey Mark had a glaring look on his face.

Mark couldn't understand why Derek didn't get it, why neither of them understood that right now he needed as much space from Lexie as possible before he did something stupid.

"Did she say that?" Dr. Bailey asked with a blank loon on her face, "did she say those exact words".

"That's the problem" Mark yelled loudly, "she didn't say _anything_. Meredith asked her point blank if we were married and Lexie said nothing, she froze up while she had to _think _about her answer".

Mark could have overlooked the fact that Lexie had stalled in answering Meredith's question, he could have overlooked the fact that yet again she wasn't ready to move out of Meredith's house.

But the part that Mark _couldn't _overlook was the fact that even after being busted Lexie had tried to find a way to cover her tracks, to make up an excuse that would get her out of the truth.

"Hallelujah the secrecy is over and done with" Dr. Bailey declared throwing her hands up in the air, she really didn't like keeping secrets…especially secrets that weren't her own.

"You knew" Derek barked in disbelief, his eyes bulging out of his head. He couldn't believe that Mark would tell Bailey about his marriage but not his best friend.

Dr. Bailey looked at Derek like he was the biggest idiot she had ever met, "I'm Dr. Bailey…I know _everything_ that goes on within the walls of this hospital".

Mark shook his head, he wasn't going to stand around in the locker room listening to the two of them make snide remarks at each other. Unfortunately for Mark Dr. Bailey noticed the second he tried to make his escape and she blocked his path.

"Where do you think you're going?" the short little woman asked, as she stood there glaring at Mark he could sort of understand why the Chief was scared of her.

"I'm going out there to practice a little thing called _medicine_, it's what we do" Mark answered snidely.

"Today's your day off" Derek pointed out.

"Well thank you captain obvious" Mark exclaimed in anger, he really didn't understand how any of this became any of their business.

Dr. Bailey sighed in defeat, she was tired of all the fighting and all the lying and all the bitterness. "Marriage isn't supposed to be this hard, it's not supposed to be about fights and lies and ultimatums" Dr. Bailey declared as she sat down on the bench.

"It's supposed to be about being happy together, loving each other and supporting each other no matter what. It's about spending the rest of your life with that _one _person….marriage isn't supposed to be about ultimatums" Dr. Bailey declared softly.

"Dr. Bailey" Mark called out gently; he could tell by the look on her face that whatever she was thinking about was something rather personal and rather painful.

"I'm divorced" Dr. Bailey declared, she had managed to keep her private life out of the hospital until now. "I am a surgeon who is now a divorced, single mother…"

"We didn't know" Derek interrupted in shock; that was the last thing he was expecting to find out today.

Dr. Bailey waved her hand in the air, "I didn't tell you to make the two of you feel sorry for me, I'm telling you this because god help, and I don't why, but I actually like you two and I don't want to see either of you make the same mistakes that I did" Dr. Bailey explained.

She turned to Mark, "and if you go out that door, if you hide inside this hospital instead of going home then you'll be making the exact same mistake I did, if you do then you can kiss your marriage goodbye" Dr. Bailey explained before making her way over to the door.

With her hand lingering over the door handle she hesitated and turned her attention back to Mark, "Sloan I like you, you're a good man. But sometimes, sometimes you can make some really stupid, stupid decisions…don't make Dr. Grey or your marriage pay for one of those".

Scrubbing his face in frustration Mark sighed as he flopped down onto the bench as Dr. Bailey walked out of the room. He knew that Bailey was right, he knew that if he stayed in the hospital instead of going home that he'd be making things worse.

Without say anything Derek sat down beside Mark and waited for him to take the lead, he knew that when Mark was ready he'd talk.

"You're not going to yell at me?" Mark asked in surprise, he had prepared himself for Derek yelling when he eventually learned the truth.

"Why would I yell at you, I'm only here because Meredith threatened me with bodily harm if I didn't come after you" Derek teased but he could see that Mark didn't find the funny side to it.

"Because I lied to you, because I went off and got hitched without telling you" Mark answered.

Derek chuckled at Mark's statement, "Mark I'm only going to start yelling if you insist on continuing to act like a little kid and stay here rather than letting me take you home" Derek warned.

"She couldn't do it" Mark declared in a whisper, "she couldn't tell her own _sister _that we're married. Am I really so bad, is the idea of letting people that she's married to me really that terrifying?" Mark asked.

Derek shook his head, "how about instead of tying yourself up in knots you go home and ask _Lexie_ instead of me" Derek suggest as he rose from his seat.

Derek stood there holding the door open and waited for Mark; he could see the hesitation in Mark's face. "Mark" Derek called out, hoping to snap him out of it.

"What if it isn't the answer I want to hear?" Mark asked fearfully, it was the main reason Mark was terrified to go home and talk this out with Lexie.

"There's only one way you're going to find that out" Derek stated while he pointed towards the outside hallway.

Nodding his head Mark rose from his seat, "just let me change out of my scrubs".

Derek waved his hand in the air dismissively, "leave them on, the Grey's seem to have a thing about men in scrubs" Derek teased with a wicked grin.

Mark shook his head while trying not to smile, as crazy as it sounded he decided to take Derek's advice and instead grabbed his leather jacket before heading out to face the music.

************

"But seriously why all the secrecy" Meredith asked before taking a sip of her tea.

Somewhere along the way they had ended up in the kitchen, the both of them nursing a hot cup of tea.

Lexie bowed her head down in embarrassment, "I got scared" she admitted.

"What of?" Mark asked, standing in the doorway of the kitchen he looked helplessly sorry for walking out on Lexie.

Meredith looked back and forth between the two of them hesitantly when she spotted Derek standing behind Mark; he waved Meredith over to get her to leave the room.

"This talk isn't over yet" she warned Lexie as she rose from her seat, "but Derek and I are going to head over to Joe's" Meredith declared.

"Yeah if the two of you are up to it later maybe you could join us, we could have a celebratory drink" Derek suggested with a smile.

Mark watched Derek and Meredith leave the house and as he made his way over to Lexie he stoped when Derek suddenly walk back into the kitchen.

Derek made his way over to Lexie; "in case I forget to do it later" Derek explained to Lexie who was looking at him oddly. Derek lent down and kissed her gently on the forehead, "thank you" he whispered loud enough for Mark to hear him, "thank you for giving me back my best friend" Derek explained before he left the room just as quick as he had walked in.

An awkward silence took over the room; Mark shrugged out of his jacket and sat down opposite Lexie.

Lexie unconsciously bit down on her bottom lip as her eyes roamed over Mark's upper body; she knew that staying focused right now was really important. But concentrating on the problem at hand was increasingly difficult with the way Mark looked in his scrub shirt.

Mark could see the way Lexie's eyes lingered over his biceps, with his arms crossed the tightness of his shirt emphasised the muscles in his arms. He tried not to smile while he made a mental not to thank Derek for telling him not to change; it gave Mark a small surge of hope knowing that he at least still got a reaction out of Lexie.

"I'm sorry" Lexie quickly blurted out before she lost the nerve to say or do anything that would make this right.

Mark sighed in defeat; he could feel his resolve quickly beginning to slip away as he looked into her helpless brown eyes. "Can we just stop with the games for a second so you can explain to me what it was that you obviously have no problems sharing with Meredith" Mark pleaded.

Lexie dropped her head down in shame, "you're going to think its stupid and that…that I'm pretty pathetic" Lexie warned in a soft whisper.

Shaking his head Mark reached across to tuck her hair behind Lexie's ear so he could at least see the side of your face. "Lexie there is nothing pathetic about you" Mark tried to reassure her.

Lexie took a deep breath and forced herself to look Mark in the eyes, it almost shocked her to see the vulnerability in Mark's eyes. He was scared as well but Lexie didn't understand why, as far as she was concerned Mark had nothing to be scared about.

"What if I'm not enough?" Lexie finally questioned her greatest fear, "I'm scared of moving out of this house because then it means we can't pretend anymore. And it's not because I _want _to pretend, it's…it's just that I'm terrified that you have this idea of the perfect marriage and I might not be able to live up to that" Lexie finally confessed.

Mark could literally feel his heart breaking in two as he listened to Lexie explain why she had been stalling. He suddenly felt like the worst husband on earth, while she had been worrying about him and about not being able make him happy all Mark could worry about was her walking out on him.

"Lexie" Mark called out but she still refused to look him in the eye. Mark moved over to the chair that was next to Lexie, cupping her cheek in his hand Mark forced her to look at him.

"Do you want to know what _my _idea of the perfect marriage is?" Mark asked with a small smirk on his face.

Wordlessly Lexie nodded her head with a small smile on her face.

"That" Mark declared as he pointed to Lexie's smile, "my idea of the perfect marriage is where I don't screw it up…where I make you laugh a hell of a lot more then I make you cry. Long as I know that I can still put a smile on your face then as far as I'm concerned I have the perfect marriage" Mark declared.

It was the truth as well; Mark had no preconceptions of what their marriage was supposed to be like. Hell until Lexie came along the idea of marriage had never even crossed Mark's mind, so the last thing he was going to do was to start dreaming of a stepford wife.

She didn't have an answer for Mark; instead Lexie rose from her seat and made her way over to him. Her body brushed up against him as she straddled him, her fingers roamed across his chest, tracing over ever line and every muscle she could get her hands on. Leaning forward she kissed Mark gently, putting all her heart and soul and everything she was feeling into it.

Gasping for air Mark reluctantly pulled away from Lexie, "so I'm going to take that as a no to meeting Derek and Meredith at Joe's" Mark stated with an evil grin.

He could feel his entire body beginning to lose control and the last thing he wanted to be doing was sitting in a bar with his sister-in-law and brother when he could he be doing something far more productive.

Again Lexie didn't answer Mark, instead her fingers raked over his chest until she reach the bottom of his scrub shirt. Shaking her head in answer to Mark's question Lexie tugged on the hem of his shirt until it was finally free from his scrub pants.

After quickly pulling his shirt off of him Lexie scrunched it up into a ball and threw it absentmindedly over her shoulder, neither of them noticing that it had landed in the sink.

"You do realise that this would be a lot more comfortable if there was a bed involved" Lexie finally whispered in Mark's ear before she began trail kisses along his jaw line.

Lexie didn't need to talk this out right now, as far as she was concerned all of that could be left to tomorrow. Right now Lexie just needed to make sure that this was real, that Mark really wasn't going anywhere and she couldn't think of a better way to prove that.

Mark didn't need to be told twice, tightening his grip around Lexie's waist Mark rose from his seat and began to carry her up the stairs…they both had a lot of apologising to do.

************

**Sorry I've been a bit slow with the updates but I've just been so swamped with uni work but I'm hoping to have some others up in the next few days. If I don't get the chance please don't hate me :-) But for now you know the deal, you review and I update…see the button, come on.**


	14. Chapter 14

************

**Chapter 14**

"Dr. Grey" Mark whispered in Lexie's ear with a seductive smile on his face, it was the first chance he'd had to see her since starting his shift.

Closing her eyes Lexie could feel the shiver running down her spine at the feeling of his breath brushing against her bare neck.

"Dr. Sloan" Lexie managed to stutter with as much decorum as possible, they were both trying to be as professional as they could despite the cat being out of the bag.

It hadn't taken long for the news of their marriage to spread through the hospital like wildfire, especially when Lexie had walked into the building sporting her very sparkly and very expensive wedding band on her wedding finger…it didn't take the nurses long to put two and two together.

Mark was grateful for the fact that he no longer had to lie to Derek, Callie or Meredith anymore. It felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders and now he could enjoy being married without feeling like he was doing something wrong.

Unfortunately during Mark's whole insistence on telling the truth he really hadn't taken the rest of the hospital into consideration. Now Mark had to learn to live with all the hushed whispers that were going on behind his back and all the odd looks he was getting from the nurses.

Mark didn't need to be a genius to know that they were all taking bets on how long he would last before he slipped and cheated on Lexie…the fact that it was about him didn't bother Mark so much as the fact that Lexie had to listen to it did.

"So I told Derek we'd have dinner with him and Meredith tonight to make it up to them for bailing on Joe's last night" Mark informed Lexie.

He was leaning against the nurses' station with an innocent smile, he had tried to talk his way out of it but Derek was relentless. He had guilt tripped Mark, telling him that he owed Derek this considering that he wasn't invited to the wedding.

"Sure thing" Lexie conceded, the idea of having dinner with Derek and Meredith wasn't so terrible. Especially considering the fact that she hadn't been able to stomach anything all morning, she had been far too nervous to eat anything.

It was too hard for Mark to resist so with a sincere smile on his face he leant in and kissed Lexie quickly on the cheek. He didn't want to make things as hard as it already was for Lexie…especially when it came to dealing with the other Interns, not that he really cared about them.

"So Lexipedia what are we supposed to call you now?" Alex asked Lexie curiously while rummaging around the desk in search of a file.

"Karev what are you going on about?" Mark asked gruffly, he was trying really hard to keep pretending like Karev was nothing more than a pain in the ass.

Shaking his head Alex rolled his eyes at Mark, "it's actually a pretty simple question, _what are we supposed to call her_" Alex repeatedly slowly like he was talking to a mentally challenged person.

Turning her head to the side Lexie covered her mouth to try and hide the smile she was sporting on her face.

Mark gave Alex a glaring look that was clearly warning him to knock it off; he was quickly beginning to reach the end of his patience.

"So is it Dr. Grey or Dr. Sloan?" Alex asked.

"Dr. Grey-Sloan" Lexie declared with a proud smile, she hadn't actually gotten around to telling Mark before she had notified HR this morning but she assumed that Mark would be fine with it.

"I thought you were sticking to Grey inside the hospital" Mark asked while trying to keep the look of surprise off his face.

Lexie shrugged her shoulders, "I guess I got used to hearing you call me Lexie Grey-Sloan that it sort of stuck with me" Lexie revealed shyly. "And I actually like the sound of it" she explained casually because she didn't see the big deal.

"Remember what I said" Alex told Mark, "legally she has to love you" he reminded Mark. With a sly smile on his face Alex slapped Mark on his shoulder before quickly walking away.

"What did he just mean by that?" Lexie asked with a frown on her face, she had known Alex long enough to know that his statement had some sort of wicked meaning behind it.

But before Mark had the chance to answer Lexie they were interrupted by Callie who made her way over to them. With a sweet smile on her face she greeted Lexie before turning her attention to Mark, suddenly her sweet decorum disappeared.

"What the hell were you thinking" Callie yelled while repeatedly hitting Mark across his arm with a thick file she had been holding on to, "are you really that insensitive?" she asked.

"Will you stop that" Mark growled, he quickly snatched the file from Callie before she could get another hit in before turning his attention to Lexie. "And _you_" Mark emphasised as he pointed at her "could help me out over here" he suggested.

Shaking her head Lexie held her hands up in surrender, "I'm pretty good right where I am" Lexie answered Mark. She managed to sneak in a cheeky smile directed at Callie before Mark noticed anything was going on.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Callie exclaimed in anger, she couldn't believe that her best friend had gotten married and to make things worse she had to find out from a _nurse_. "I mean did you honestly think that Derek and I wouldn't want to be there?"

Mark opened and closed his mouth as he tried to find the right words to answer Callie's question but he came up empty, every answer he could think of didn't seem to justify the hurt Callie was feeling.

"I'm sorry" Mark apologised sincerely with a warm smile, praying like hell that it would be enough to get back into Callie's good graces.

Callie eyed Mark dubiously before turning her attention to Lexie, "ring" she ordered while holding her hand out.

Smiling at Mark Lexie held her left hand out to show off her wedding ring, she was trying really hard not to laugh at Callie who looked like her eyes were about to pop out of her head.

"Well I guess I can forgive you for not being invited to your wedding considering that your taste in jewellery isn't too bad" Callie teased Mark, pretending like she had to force herself to forgive him.

Slinging his arm around Callie's neck Mark kissed her on the top of her head, "you would have been on the top of the list" Mark promised Callie.

Nudging Mark with her elbow Callie pushed him away while trying not to laugh at Mark, "he's all yours" Callie told Lexie.

Lexie smiled fondly as she watched Callie walk away; it was comforting to know that, despite all the lies, Derek and Callie were still being supportive of Mark.

Lexie stoped smiling when she noticed that Mark had a grim look on his face, she could tell that he was having some sort of internal struggle with himself and that it could only lead to no good.

"You ok over there?" Lexie asked cautiously, she knew that when Mark got into one of these moods it was best not to push him.

"Yes, no, maybe…I don't know" Mark sighed in frustration, all of sudden everything was a lot more confusing then it had been last night. "I guess I just had this idea in my head of how Derek and Callie would react to our news and it certainly wasn't like this" Mark admitted.

Trying not smile Lexie made her way over to Mark and wrapper her arms round his neck, "what did you expect, you're their family Mark…I mean right now you're the _only _family that Callie has".

Mark let out an exhausted chuckle as he shook his head, "well you could have warned me about this before you agreed to my bright idea" Mark told Lexie with a playful grin on his face.

"Now I could have…but where would all the fun have been in that" Lexie teased, gently stroking his face Lexie leant in and kissed him gently.

"What am I going to do with you?" Mark sighed in frustration; he had promised himself that there wasn't going to be anymore hospital sex but whenever Lexie pulled a stunt like this it made it increasingly hard to stick to it.

Lexie jumped and pulled away from Mark at the sound of her name being called out, thinking that it was the Chief who had busted them.

"Dr. Grey I need you to go home" Derek declared as he made his way over to Mark and Lexie, he paid Mark enough attention to nod his head in hello before looking at Lexie again.

"Excuse me?" Lexie questioned with a frown on her face.

Derek sighed in frustration, he felt like he was going insane and right now he needed Lexie to help him make it right. "I need you to go home and talk to Meredith, after you two left she locked herself up in the bathroom and she's refused to come out since. So I need you to go home and talk her out of the bathroom ok" Derek pleaded with her before walking away.

"Woah, wait a minute…just wait one damn minute" Lexie called out, she grabbed Derek by the arm before he could escape. "Why has my sister decided to lock herself up in the bathroom?" Lexie asked with a serious look on her face.

Shaking his head Mark tired not to laugh at the little tug of war his best friend and his wife had going on. He could already see the claws being sharpened in case Lexie need to protect Meredith from Derek, not that Meredith would ever need protection from Derek.

"If I knew then I wouldn't be asking you to do this would I, so please just go home and talk to her. I've already spoken to the Chief, told him there was a family emergency, so you have the rest of the day off" Derek called out over his shoulder as he began to walk away.

"Wish me luck" Lexie teased with a sweet smile, quickly kissing Mark she gathered her things together and left to go and deal with Meredith.

************

"Mer" Lexie called out again, softly tapping on the door. As soon as she got home Lexie made a beeline for the bathroom only to find it locked.

"Mer it's me Lexie" she called out, hoping that once Meredith realised it was her and not Derek that she'd open the door. Lexie sighed in defeat; "well ok then if you want to talk I'll be waiting downstairs" she called out.

Lexie began to walk way in surrender when she heard the sound of the bathroom door unlocking.

Turning round Lexie carefully popped her head inside the bathroom, she found Meredith sitting against the bathtub on the cool tiles with her legs pressed up against her chest.

"What are you doing on the floor?" Lexie asked hesitantly, Meredith opening the door was progress and she really didn't want a set back.

Meredith shrugged her shoulders without saying anything; she really didn't know how to explain to Lexie what was going on.

"Mer are you ok?" Lexie asked as she slid down onto the floor beside Meredith, she reached out and squeezed Meredith's arm to try and get her attention.

Meredith sat on the floor with a far away look on her face; she was trying to figure out how all of this had happened.

Lexie decided to wait and give Meredith time, she knew that when Meredith was ready she'd talk to Lexie, and it wasn't like Lexie had anywhere to be.

They sat side by side for nearly twenty minutes before Meredith finally managed to snap out of her daze; looking down at her watch she saw that it was nearly 1 in the afternoon.

"What are you doing here; you're supposed to be at work" Meredith pointed out with a frown on her face.

"Derek was worried about you so he managed to score me the rest of the afternoon off" Lexie answered, but she had never expected to get the kind of reaction she did out of Meredith.

"That's so typical of him…of _Dr. Derek Christopher Shepherd_" Meredith hissed with a bitter look on her face. "He _has _to control everything doesn't he; if it's not the O.R then he's throwing around ultimatums. Now he's probably going to start trying to tell me what to do about the baby just like he tried to tell what to do with Izzie and Alex" Meredith blurted out in complete anger that she didn't even think about what she was saying.

"Wait a minute go back" Lexie stated with a shocked look on her face, "repeat what you just said" she ordered Meredith.

"He likes to throw around ultimatums" Meredith repeated hesitantly, it didn't take her long to figure out her mistake and now she had to try to find a way to back track.

"And after that" Lexie stated with a serious look on her face, she knew what Meredith was trying to do and Meredith wasn't going to get out of it that easily.

"He tried to tell me what to do with Izzie and Alex when he first moved into the house" Meredith answered, she was trying to avoid eye contact with Lexie.

"And before that" Lexie ordered with a stern look on her face.

"Meredith" she called out softly, "are you pregnant?" Lexie asked warily.

Shaking her head in defeat Meredith sighed in frustration, she really didn't want to answer that question because it meant dealing with what was on the other end of that answer.

"Meredith you promised Derek no more running" Lexie reminded Meredith with a faint smile.

Meredith debated with herself but in the end she realised that if she couldn't trust her sister then who could she trust.

"I _might _be" Meredith finally answered honestly for the first time that day, and while she wouldn't admit it out loud Meredith was relieved to know that she had someone to share this with.

"You don't know?" Lexie asked but the look on Meredith's face clearly told her the answer she already knew.

"I wish I never even heard the name Derek Shepherd" Meredith cursed him, "getting married, having babies…none of that was part of the plan, all I was supposed to do was become a kick ass surgeon" Meredith argued.

"Plans suck, plans never work out. Trust me I know that better then anyone" Lexie told Meredith with a playful smile. "But we both know that you wouldn't have it any other way Mer" Lexie pointed out.

As hard as she tried Meredith couldn't help but smile as she shook her head, she knew that while none of this had been in her original plan it was so much better.

"Stupid, stupid New York men" Meredith muttered with a playful smile, both their lives had been turned upside down because of Mark and Derek.

"Mer one way or anther you have to find out, we can go to the hospital and get a blood test done" Lexie suggested.

Meredith shook her head, "if we go to the hospital then everyone will know that I'm pregnant by the end of the day" she explained.

"Ok fine then" Lexie relented as she rose to her feet, "I'll run down to the drug store and buy you a pregnancy test" she told Meredith before making her way towards the door.

"If I have to pee on a stick then so do you" Meredith called out to Lexie's retreating back.

Lexie turned on her heel to see the serious look on Meredith's face, "I'm not the one pregnant Mer. I am _not _peeing on a stick" Lexie told her adamantly.

"Please Lexie I can't do this on my own; I'm scared and I need you to pee on a stick with me" Meredith begged Lexie with a pouted lip.

Running her fingers through her hair Lexie sighed in defeat, she knew that it would have taken a lot for Meredith to admit that she was scared. "You know if this was Cristina there's no way she'd pee on a stick for you" Lexie pointed out, she was failing miserably at trying to hide a smile.

"Well Cristina's my person but you're my _sister_" Meredith answered with a fully blown smile on her face.

"Fine I'll be back in 20 minutes" Lexie told Meredith before she ran out of the room, she couldn't believe that she was going to do something as stupid as take a pregnancy test just to get Meredith to do one.

************

"Meredith can you just sit still" Lexie hissed, Meredith's incessant pacing back and forth was driving Lexie insane.

"Sorry" Meredith whispered, she quickly sat down on her bed and fearfully eyed the two sticks that were sitting at the foot of the bed.

It had only been less then a minute since Meredith took the test and already she was tying herself up in knots.

Lexie could see the fear and hesitation in Meredith's eyes, reaching out she took ahold of Meredith's hand and squeezed it tightly. "Hey no matter what you and Derek will get through this" Lexie tried to reassured her.

"Why aren't you freaking out?" Meredith asked her sceptically.

"Because I'm not pregnant" Lexie answered Meredith's question confidently, Lexie knew that if she was pregnant then she would have been able to sense it.

Meredith scoffed at Lexie's answer, "please you and Sloan do it like rabbits" she argued with a cheeky smile.

Just as Lexie opened her mouth to speak she was cut off by the sound of Derek's voice travelling down the hallway calling out for Meredith.

In a complete panic Meredith crawled across the bed in a hurry and leapt towards the door, she quickly ran out of the room before Derek had a chance to come in and see the tests. Meredith didn't want Derek to know what was going on unless there really was something to know.

"Meredith" Lexie hissed in annoyance, while she was crawling across the bed she had managed to knock both tests on to the floor.

Now Lexie had no idea which one was which.

Lexie picked the two tests up off the floor and stared at the both of them; she was staring at them as if she at any second now they might actually tell her the answer.

Shaking her head in defeat Lexie threw the two tests back onto the bed, she knew that it was useless now to waste time trying to figure it out.

Lexie knew that it was pretty simple, if either of the tests came back positive then that one belonged to Meredith. But she couldn't help wonder what Mark's reaction would be if she was pregnant.

While they had never discussed it Lexie knew that kids were definitely something that would happen one day but not right now. She giggled at the silliness of her thoughts; it was crazy to even _think _about being pregnant.

Lexie knew that it would be the worst timing on earth for her to be pregnant and she knew that. There was no way that she could juggle being an Intern, a wife and a mother all at the same time.

But looking back down at the two tests Lexie couldn't help but feel a slight tug of jealously, she knew that the second she saw Meredith holding a baby she'd want one of her own. Being a mother had always been the only other thing that Lexie had ever wanted to do besides medicine.

"I managed to get rid of Derek" Meredith sighed in relief.

"Yeah well its pointless now" Lexie told Meredith, "you knocked over the tests so I don't know which one is yours and which one is mine".

Groaning in frustration Meredith stomped over to the bed muttering "stupid, stupid New York men" loud enough for Lexie to hear.

Rolling her eyes at Meredith's exaggeration Lexie picked up one of the tests, her mind went completely blank as the result stared back at her.

"Lexie what's wrong?" Meredith asked in a panic, she could feel the colour draining from her face as she studied Lexie's reaction.

"It's positive" Lexie announced with a dumbfounded look on her face, while she had prepared herself for one of them to come back positive it was still a shock. She could feel the small pang of jealousy quickly begin to make its way up into the pit of her stomach.

"Well I guess that one's mine" Meredith sighed as she picked up the other test, she stoped talking the instant she saw the result and began smiling like an idiot.

"Meredith what are you smiling about?" Lexie asked with a furrowed brow.

"Derek was right, being able to say I told you so really is a great feeling" Meredith told Lexie smugly. With a cheesy grin on her face Meredith turned the test around to show Lexie the other test which was also sporting a positive result.

"It's…its wrong" Lexie tried to reason with Meredith.

Meredith knew it was wrong but she couldn't help feeling grateful knowing that she wouldn't have to go through all of this alone, that she had Lexie to freak with out with.

"I guess the only way we're ever going to really know is by going to the hospital and getting a blood test done" Meredith sighed, it really was unavoidable now.

Lexie shook her head, "what do you mean _we_, I don't need a blood test because I'm _not _pregnant" Lexie argued.

She refused to acknowledge the fact that while both tests came back positive one of them was hers. Lexie was afraid to even entertain the idea of it being right because if it turned out to be nothing more then a false positive she knew that she'd only end up feeling disappointed.

"Well they _both_ came back positive and I didn't pee on _two_ sticks, so as far as I'm concerned _we _need to go to the hospital and get a blood test done" Meredith ordered Lexie.

Meredith wasn't going to take no for an answer, Lexie had been right. She had promised Derek no more running and the only way that was going to happen was to face the music.

"Come on Lexie it's just a small little prick in the arm, you won't even feel it" Meredith tried to reassure Lexie while dragging her out of the room and down the stairs.

Lexie knew that this was a bad idea, that there were so many things _wrong _with her being pregnant…Mark being the biggest problem of them all.

************

"Meredith, three, where the hell are you two" Cristina called out as she barged through the front door. She had been in such a hurry that Cristina didn't even see them in the living; she back tracked and walked into the room while pulling out two envelopes from her coat.

"Two pathology reports as requested and before you ask no Shepherd and Sloan didn't see me with them" Cristina announced bluntly.

She had been in the middle of treating a patient when Meredith had paged her in to an on-call room. Meredith explained to Cristina what was going on and asked her to bring the results back to Meredith's place when they were ready.

Neither of them really wanted to stick around and wait in case Mark or Derek saw them and started asking too many questions.

Meredith leapt from the couch and snatched the two envelopes from Cristina's hand, Meredith's test results were marked as Ellis Doe and Lexie's were Susan Doe.

"Here you open mine and I'll open yours" Meredith instructed Lexie, holding her own test results out to her sister.

Lexie knew that she had nothing to be nervous about, that her test results would come back negative. But still just knowing that Meredith was holding on to her results sent her heart racing.

As Lexie's finger tips brushed against the side of the envelope Meredith quickly pulled her arm back, "no" she cried out. "I'll open mine and you open yours" Meredith changed her mind; she had worked herself up to the point that she couldn't even think straight.

Dropping Lexie's test results onto the coffee table Meredith tore open her envelope and took in every word that was printed on the piece paper.

Cristina and Lexie held their breath while they waited for Meredith to tell them what it said.

Suddenly Meredith began laughing hysterically while shaking her head in disbelief.

"Mer" Cristina called out hesitantly; she wasn't sure what the shaking of her head meant.

Meredith continued to laugh as she sat back down on the couch, she couldn't believe that this was happening.

"Meredith" Lexie called out pleadingly; she had never seen Meredith lose it like this before.

"He's finally done it" Cristina declared, "McDreamy finally managed to break her".

"Cristina" Lexie hissed in admonishment, the last thing Meredith needed was for Cristina to start taking jabs at Derek.

"I'm…I'm, I'm pregnant" Meredith declared through fits of laughter. She knew that it was an inappropriate way to react to the news, but the alternative was to cry and Meredith didn't have it in her to do that.

"Cristina do something" Lexie ordered, while her relationship with Meredith had grown it wasn't to point where Lexie knew how to do deal with this.

"Just because you're married to Sloan doesn't make us friends" Cristina warned Lexie.

Lexie stood next to Cristina with her arms crossed and a glaring look on her face, she wasn't going to argue with Cristina right now.

"What do you want me to do?" Cristina asked sceptically while she continued to watch Meredith laugh hysterically at the news she was pregnant.

"What do you usually do when Meredith's freaking out?" Lexie asked in a panic.

"Usually I get a bottle of tequila in her but something tells me that McDreamy might have a problem with that" Cristina answered sarcastically.

Shaking her head at Cristina's answer Lexie sat down on the coffee table in front of Meredith. "Mer" she called out, gently shaking her by the shoulders but it seemed to do nothing.

"I'm really sorry Mer" Lexie apologised.

Before Meredith could even see it coming Lexie slapped her as hard as she could across the cheek without actually hurting her. Meredith instantly stoped laughing, and with her hand cradling her cheek she looked over at Cristina in shock.

"She slapped me" Meredith declared in disbelief.

"I now I saw it" Cristina told Meredith, she wasn't even trying to hide the smile on her face.

"I'm sorry Meredith but we needed to do something to snap you out of it" Lexie explained.

"I'm pregnant" Meredith whispered in shock, it hadn't fully sunk in yet but she was surprised by her lack of freaking out.

"Mer it's going to be ok" Lexie reassured her, "you and Derek will make this work ok. Besides the two of you will have all of us to help you guys out" she told Meredith while Cristina opened up Lexie's results.

"Uhh three I wouldn't go offering your babysitting services if I was you, it looks like you're going to have your own hands full" Cristina declared with an evil smile.

With a furrowed brow Lexie looked over shoulder at Cristina and the piece of paper in her hands, "what are you talking about Cristina?"

"You're pregnant" Cristina told her, offering Lexie the piece of paper so she could see for herself.

As Lexie took the piece of paper from Cristina and read the results she was finding it harder to breathe. "This, I'm not…I can't be pregnant" Lexie argued in disbelief, she was beginning to panic.

Cristina scoffed at Lexie's denial, "well apparently the pathologist at Seattle Grace and your own blood would have to disagree with you there".

"Cristina" Meredith hissed; she could see that Cristina was having fun toying with Lexie and right now wasn't the time for that.

"But Mark's…." Lexie trailed. She didn't even know how to finish that sentence as she kept reading and re-reading her results, willing them to change if she looked at it long enough.

"I have to go before Bailey and the Chief realise that I'm missing, are you two going to be ok?" Cristina asked. While she didn't envy Lexie and Meredith right now she wasn't going to leave them alone if they were both about to have a complete break down.

Meredith nodded her head, "go, we'll be fine" she reassured Cristina.

Cristina nodded her head and began to make her way out of the living room when she stoped in her track, "if you need anything…if either of you need anything just call ok" Cristina offered before leaving.

Cristina was in such a hurry to leave that she didn't even see Mark and walked right into him.

"Yang watch where you're going" Mark barked while stepping aside so she could leave.

Ignoring Mark Cristina quickly left because she really didn't want to be around when Mark and Derek found out that their wives were pregnant.

Shaking his head in confusion Derek walked into the house with Mark following behind.

"We've got pizza" Derek declared as he walked in to the living room carrying three boxes of pizzas.

Meredith and Lexie both sprung up from the couch and smiled nervously at Mark and Derek.

"What's wrong?" Derek asked bluntly, he could already sense that there was something wrong.

"Nothing" both Lexie and Meredith answered at the same time with the same forced smile.

Derek didn't buy it but he decided not to push the subject, Meredith had already been acting weird today and he didn't want to make it any worse.

"Why are there three pizzas?" Lexie asked just as Mark walked into the room with two bottles of beer.

"Because we know how much you two hate anchovies on your pizza so we got you a separate one" Mark answered while handing Derek his beer.

Lexie knew that it was irrational; she knew that it was the shock of finding out that she was pregnant which was controlling her emotions. But right now Lexie needed to be mad because this wasn't part of the plan, she wasn't supposed to be thinking let alone having a baby while only half-way through the Intern program.

And right now the only obvious choice was Derek and Mark. She was mad at Mark because he was the one who got her in this situation and she was mad at Derek because if he hadn't gotten Meredith pregnant then Lexie would have remained blissfully unaware.

"So yet again you two decided to just take control and make decisions for us" Lexie spat out at Derek bitterly.

Holding a slice of pizza in the air Derek looked over at Mark with a frown on his face, "excuse me?"

"You heard her" Meredith scolded Derek, she decided that right now her and Lexie needed to stick together and if Lexie needed to be mad then Meredith was going to be mad with her.

"You two think that just because you're the big bad Attending at work that you get to tell us what to do outside the hospital" Meredith exclaimed in anger. "But we've got news for you two, you're not. Just because we're married to the two of you doesn't mean that you get to push us around".

"Yeah" Lexie cried out in agreement.

Mark looked back and forth between Meredith and Lexie; he wasn't sure where this was coming from but something told him that the girls were fuelling each others anger.

"Ok knew rule, you two aren't allowed to talk to each other anymore unless Derek or I are in the room" Mark ordered.

"You didn't hear a word we just said did you Mark" Lexie groaned in frustration.

Mark opened his mouth to say something but immediately closed it when Meredith gave him a glaring look.

"No of course not because that would actually mean taking what _we _want into consideration and we all know that what Mark and Derek want Mark and Derek get" Lexie exclaimed before storming out of the room.

"Are you two drunk?" Derek asked Meredith with a straight face.

Meredith took a deep breath to try and calm down but she knew that it was pointless. Walking over to Derek she slapped him across the back of the head before following Lexie out of the room.

"What the hell was that about?" Derek asked while rubbing the back of his head.

Shaking his head at a complete loss Mark shrugged his shoulders.

Meredith sighed in relief when she saw that Lexie was lying down on her bed just stairing up at the ceiling aimlessly.

"I couldn't tell him" Lexie admitted warily, "I wanted to but I couldn't. So I decided that being mad at Mark was better then pretending like this wasn't really happening".

Lexie felt like she was being pulled in two different directions. While on the one hand she wanted to be happy about this the fear of what this would mean for their marriage was just too strong.

It wasn't that she thought Mark would be a terrible father; it was more to do with the fact that they hadn't really ever discussed the topic of kids…Lexie didn't even know if Mark wanted any.

"We don't have to tell them straight away" Meredith reassured Lexie; she crawled on to the bed and lay down beside her. "We just need a few days to adjust to this, to adjust the fact that we're going to be mothers. Once we get our heads around it then we'll tell Derek and Mark" Meredith suggested.

With her eyes half closed Lexie nodded her head, "tomorrow" she murmured as she quickly began to drift off to sleep on Derek's side of the bed.

Everything that had happened today had worn the both of them of them out and neither of them realised just how tired they were until their heads hit the pillow.

Mark and Derek carefully opened the door to see Meredith and Lexie both sound asleep, with both their left hands resting on their abdomen, but Mark and Derek thought nothing of it. They were just to relieved to know that they didn't have to deal with what crazy Meredith and Lexie were going through for the time being.

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**Reviews are more than welcomed :-)**


	15. Chapter 15

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**Chapter 15**

Lexie would be the first to admit she was an avoider; it was a trait that both she and Meredith had picked up from their father.

It's the reason why she had to double check before walking down the hallways of the hospital…she was an avoider and right now she was avoiding Mark.

Deciding that neither of them were really ready to face the men or answer the questions they knew that would be coming they managed to sneak out of the house before either of them woke up.

Now Lexie had been avoiding, she had been avoiding Derek but more importantly she was avoiding Mark and the exact same thing could be said for Meredith.

Lexie didn't need Meredith or Cristina to point out the irony in it because she could already see it. She kept using Mark's reaction as an excuse for stalling, arguing that she wasn't ready to deal with a baby and him freaking out.

But Lexie knew that she was doing enough worrying for the both of them, she was the one freaking out and she didn't know how to make it stop.

On their way to work Lexie and Meredith swore to each other that they would tell Mark and Derek by the end of the day. Well the day was almost over and they had both chickened out several times…especially Lexie.

She had stoped in her tracks a few times, catching sight of Mark at the other end of the hallway or standing in the front of the surgical board. She would psyche herself up to go over and tell him once and for all, but her head and the rest of her body seemed to have two different ideas.

In the end she chickened out and went running off in the opposite direction before Mark saw her.

Making her way over to Meredith and Lexie Cristina dropped a pile of charts on to the bench, sighing in relief.

Lexie jumped at the sound of the files hitting the nurses' bench, she had been so wrapt up in her thoughts trying to find a way to tell Mark that she didn't even hear or see Cristina coming.

"So I'm guessing neither of you have told Sloan or Shepherd about the M&M's" Cristina stated absentmindedly, flipping through the pile of folders in search of something.

"M&M's" Lexie repeated questioningly, she looked over at Meredith hoping that her big sister would be able to translate Cristina's sentence into plain English.

Giggling at Cristina's reference Meredith shrugged her shoulders with a blank look on her face.

Reluctantly pulling herself away from the folders Cristina rolled her eyes at Lexie, "yes three M&M's…i.e. _McDreamy and mini, Mcsteamy and mini_" Cristina explained like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Lexie shook her head, it sounded like the stupidest thing she'd ever heard and she couldn't believe that Cristina would even bother coming up with nicknames like that.

"What makes you think we haven't told Derek and Mark?" Meredith asked nervously, she wanted to get the topic off of naming her baby but she wasn't all too keen on discussing the Derek issue either.

Meredith was still trying to wrap her head around it.

"Uhh because her idiot doesn't look like he's about to have a complete melt down" Cristina answered pointing at Lexie, "and your idiot doesn't have a stupid cheesy grin super glued to his face".

She wasn't trying to be mean; she was simply voicing her opinion on how Mark and Derek were going to react.

"Mark is _not _going to have a complete melt down" Lexie argued in Mark's defence, or at least she hoped he wasn't.

Sniffing the white tea in her styrofoam cup Meredith screwed her nose up in disgust and quickly pushed the cup far away.

"I'm going to _kill_ Derek, I have to give up coffee because of him" Meredith complained.

"Hey nobody told you two geniuses to go and get knocked up" Cristina teased with a devious smile on her face. She could already see the months of fun that she had ahead, watching the Grey sister's torture McSteamy and McDreamy.

"Cristina I'm going to give you a piece of advice I strongly recommend that you hold on to for the next nine months…_do not piss off the pregnant woman_" Meredith hissed in a whisper so that she couldn't be overheard.

"Will you two just shut up" Lexie yelled out loud enough for others to hear, she suddenly felt like she couldn't get enough oxygen into her lungs.

"Lexie" Meredith called out softly with a worried look on her face.

Looking around Lexie could see that people were stairing. Shaking her head in disbelief she ran away as fast as she could before she said anything else.

"Is this a pregnant thing?" Cristina asked Meredith in a whisper.

"Really not a good time for jokes Cristina" Meredith warned her before running off after Lexie.

"Lexie" Meredith called out as she made her way over to her sister who was violently stabbing the elevator button.

Lexie froze at the sound of Meredith's voice; she really didn't want to deal with her right now. All Lexie wanted to do was crawl into bed and never come out because it sounded a whole lot better then facing the music.

"Lexie" Meredith called out again only this time a lot more firmly.

Lexie sighed in relief as the elevator doors opened; she didn't waste anytime stepping onboard.

"Just leave me alone Meredith" Lexie snapped just as the doors closed on Meredith who looked like she had just been kicked in the gut.

Walking back into the wall Lexie held her hand up against the base of her throat; massaging it as if that would help the oxygen get through. She couldn't breathe properly despite the deep breaths she was taking; her breathing was getting quicker and quicker as her throat felt like it was closing up on her.

Hunched over with her head between legs Lexie tried to will her breathing to slow down but it seemed pointless to her, she knew that she was having a panic attack…something that hadn't happened since the eighth grade.

She had never been good with secrets, especially when she was keeping them from the people she loved…and the baby secret, the baby secret was the worst one.

She knew that she couldn't go on lying to Mark but she was terrified of telling him, and having Cristina make fun of Mark's reaction wasn't helping. Bottom line Lexie knew that it was the guilt causing the panic attack…the guilt of lying to Mark and Derek, the guilt of questioning Mark's capacity to handle this and the guilt of yelling at Meredith.

Lexie had been so focused on trying to get her breathing under control that she didn't hear the elevator doors open up on the surgical floor.

Wondering out into the hallway Lexie started taking deep breaths to try and control her breathing but it was all starting to get just too much for her. She wondered around aimlessly in a hurry, she was running around like she was in search of something but Lexie didn't know for what exactly.

Mark leant against the on-call room door, watching Lexie debate herself on which way to go. She'd start walking in one direction and after a few steps she'd stop and head in the other direction, it was a stop and start process and Mark was really beginning to worry.

Lexie was so caught up with her own thoughts and the fight going on in her head that she didn't notice him until she heard his voice.

"You look like a crazy person" Mark pointed out seriously; he knew that she was avoiding him and Mark had been struggling to figure out why all day.

But Lexie's current behaviour was really starting to scare Mark, especially after her outburst the night before, but all of this was new to Mark…the having to care and worry about a woman was a new concept for him and right now it was beyond his comprehension.

Lexie managed to stop pacing long enough to give Mark a glaring look, panic began to set in once Lexie realised that she was trapped…that she had no way of avoiding Mark or the question she knew that was on the tip of his tongue.

"This is partly your fault" Lexie growled with a glaring look, pointing a finger at Mark she took a few deep breaths to try and control her breathing.

Holding his hands up in self-defence Mark took a step back, he really had no idea what the hell was going.

"You're the one who told me that life's too short and that we should get married because at any moment one of us could get hit by a bus, and I did. And, now my plan's gone to hell, I had a plan Mark Sloan…a perfectly good plan that wasn't hurting anyone but then you had to come along, you and your stupid I love yous and your McSteamy face" Lexie spat out before quickly walking away from Mark.

She was hyperventilating again and Lexie knew that if she didn't calm down she'd pass out in front of everyone, and the last thing she needed was to have that added to the hospital gossip.

"Well you're the one who couldn't resist" Mark teased, hoping that it would lighten Lexie's mood.

Lexie stopped in her track and walked back over to Mark, "you do not get to be charmed by this, because this is not charming. This is me freaking out because all day I've been keeping secrets and I'm terrible at keeping secrets, keeping secrets make me sick. I never used to be like this, I never used to keep secrets from the people I care about and I never had a reason to before but now…now I've become this big fat liar who lies to everyone and yells at her sister and her husband" Lexie rambled on in a furry while running out of breath.

Blocking Lexie's path Mark gently grabbed her by the arms. "All right let's just breathe" Mark suggested, taking a deep breath himself to remind Lexie how it's done.

Nodding her head Lexie took a deep breath to try and calm down, it seemed to be working because the crazy person she had become was slowly fading away.

"And again", Lexie took another deep breath, "good. Look at me" Mark ordered the second Lexie tried to break eye contact. "You have become a crazy person that I do not recognise. I want Lexie back, can I get Lexie back?" Mark questioned his wife with a pleading look on his face.

Looking into his eyes Lexie could see all the vulnerability in them; she could see that Mark was terrified about whatever was causing her to behave like this.

In that moment Lexie realised that while she was freaking out about how Mark would react to the baby she hadn't considered how her own reaction would affect him.

"I'm pregnant" Lexie declared bluntly, deciding to just rip the bandaid off and get it out there once and for all.

Mark's mind went blank; his brain couldn't seem to handle processing anything beyond those two words. Letting go of Lexie Mark stumbled backwards, "you…you're" Mark struggled to articulate while pointing to her stomach.

Lexie shook her head, trying to keep the look of hurt and disappointment off her face. She had really hoped that Mark could deal with this; that she wouldn't have to convince Mark that he was ready for a baby.

"I have to go" Lexie stated coldly, she really needed to get as far away from Mark as possible because she couldn't deal with him right now.

It felt like someone had just kicked her in the gut as the disappointment began to creep through, Cristina was right and that was killing Lexie. She thought that Mark had grown up, she thought that he'd be able to pull himself together long enough to construct a sentence…she had no idea how Derek worked his way through Meredith's dark and twisty phases.

"Lexie wait" Mark called out to her retreating back.

"I have a surgery with Hunt" Lexie called out, barely paying any attention to Mark or to where she was going.

Rubbing his face Mark let out a loud growl, a baby was the last thing that he would have expected to be the cause of Lexie's odd behaviour. But Mark had enough sense to know that he couldn't let things keep going on like this, they needed to talk and Mark needed to pull himself together.

************

"Motorcyclist lost control of his bike in the rain and was thrown into the air, he's broken at least four bones in his legs…" Owen was explaining to Lexie while they both scrubbed in on the surgery but Lexie wasn't really paying any attention to what Owen was saying.

Nodding her head absent-mindedly Lexie was caught up with being focused on scrubbing her hands; she was scrubbing them so hard that they began to turn red.

Owen could sense that Lexie was distracted and the ferocity at which she was scrubbing her hands didn't help to hide it either. Reaching out Owen quickly grabbed her right wrist, "you keep scrubbing like that and your skin's going to come off" Owen joked hopping that it would ease some of the tension.

Looking down at her hands Lexie immediately dropped the bar of soap into the skin; pulling away from Owen she rinsed her hands.

"Dr. Sloan" Owen sighed in relief when he spotted Mark walking into the scrub room.

Lexie looked up at Owen assuming that he was talking to her. Despite hyphenating her name to Grey-Sloan over night the staff of Seattle Grace had made the executive decision to refer to Lexie as Dr. Sloan.

Apparently it was easier and less confusing for the rest of the hospital then it was to be referring to her as Grey-Sloan, how Lexie wasn't entirely sure but she did know not to question the Attendings or the nurses.

"Dr. Hunt" Mark nodded his head; standing near the doorway with his hands on his hips Mark focused his attention on Lexie.

Hearing Mark's voice Lexie froze, she felt like she was in a nightmare and no matter what she tried to do she couldn't wake up.

Turning the tap off Lexie tried to make a quick escape before Mark could start listing off all the reason why having a baby was the worst idea in the world or why he wasn't ready for it.

Unfortunately for Lexie Mark's years of playing football had honed his reflex skills, he was quicker than she was and managed to grab Lexie by her upper arm before she could escape into the O.R.

"Dr. Hunt I need to speak to Dr. Grey privately for a minute" Mark declared with a blank look on his face.

Neither Lexie nor Owen could tell what Mark was thinking or feeling and Owen really didn't want to get in the middle of what was going on.

"I'll be waiting for you inside the O.R. Dr. Sloan" Owen informed Lexie, not wasting anytime to give Mark and Lexie their privacy.

"Lexie we need to talk about this" Mark stated the second Owen had left the room.

Stubbornly shaking her head Lexie tried to pull away from Mark but he was a lot stronger than Lexie.

"Lexie…"

"I don't want to talk about this Mark" Lexie hissed, "right now all I want to do is go into the O.R. and cut something…I just want to forget that this conversation ever happened, hell for the next 4 hours I just want to forget that there's even a baby" Lexie snapped.

Her emotions were on such a high that Lexie wasn't even thinking about what she was saying, the fear and the anger over everything took control and she didn't stop to think how those words would sound to Mark.

Letting go of Lexie's arm Mark turned on his heel and left the scrub room without saying a word.

It was déjà vu all over again as far as Mark was concerned only this time it wasn't Addison telling him that she didn't want his baby, it was his _wife_ and that made the hurt ten times worse.

Mark thought that he had it all together; he thought that he was finally done with all the running and all the games when Lexie had walked into his life…but now Mark was starting to doubt everything he thought he had known.

Mark felt like the walls were closing in on him and he needed to get the hell out of the hospital before he completely lost it.

Lexie felt a stab of guilt hit her squarely in the chest as she watched Mark walk away dejectedly with his shoulders hunched over. He looked like someone had just kicked him while he was down and Lexie knew that that someone was her.

She screwed up period.

Lexie knew that there was no arguing her way out of this one, she had literally just said the most hurtful thing she could have ever said to her husband…especially after Addison.

************

Five and half hours later Lexie sighed in relief walking out of their patient's room, rubbing her stiff neck she finished off the patient's chart before she planned to make her escape for freedom.

"You're a natural inside the O.R." Owen declared; looking over Lexie's shoulder at the chart she was filling out.

"Thank you Dr. Hunt" Lexie smiled, it wasn't often that the Attendings complimented their Residents.

"I meant it Dr. Sloan; you have a real knack for Trauma…"

"Is this the part where you try to persuade me to give up on Plastics and adopt Trauma as my specialty" Lexie teased with a smirk.

"All I'm saying is that just because you and the other Grey are married to Attendings doesn't mean you have to follow in their footsteps" Owen stated, "I mean look at me and Cristina".

Lexie scoffed at Owen's choice of example, "first off you and Cristina aren't married and secondly Cristina's Cardio…she's hard core Cardio, even if her specialty has become a revolving door of doctors".

His pager went off while chuckling at Lexie's joke, "all I'm saying is that there are other possibilities. Just because something's right in front of you doesn't mean it's your only option".

"I'll keep that in mind" Lexie reassured Owen before he made his way to the E.R. to attend to an emergency.

"Lexie" Meredith called out before her sister could get away.

Lexie gave Meredith an exhausted smile, "I'm sorry" she immediately apologised for her behaviour earlier before.

Meredith shook her head; she didn't care about Lexie's outburst as much as finding out why Mark had cancelled his surgeries this afternoon.

"Derek told me that Mark cancelled all his surgeries and stormed out of the hospital without telling the Chief" Meredith stated with a worried look.

"Did he?" Lexie questioned, trying to make it sound as casual as possible.

"You told him", it was a statement more than a question.

"Did you tell Derek?" Lexie asked Meredith, if Lexie learnt one thing about avoiding questions it was to always answer a question with a question.

"I'm meeting Derek at Joe's right not, I'm going to tell him when I get there" Meredith announced with a nervous smile.

Letting out an exhausted giggle Lexie shook her head, "Mer you have nothing to worry about. Derek's going to be bouncing off the walls in excitement when you tell him" she tried to reassure Meredith.

"Which is apparently more than I can say for Mark" Meredith pointed out sombrely.

Just as Lexie opened her mouth say something she was pulled away by the sound of her name being called out. Looking over her shoulder she saw Owen standing in the hallway, his patient lying on the gurney.

"I've got a patient here who's insides are literally a mess, you want in?" Owen asked with an encouraging smile.

Looking back and forth between Meredith and Owen Lexie struggled to make a decision. Lexie knew that the right thing to do was to go home and talk to Mark but right now she didn't want to do the right thing…especially after her talk with Meredith.

Just picturing Derek's reaction to the news made Lexie want to avoid going home even more then she did before talking to Meredith. Lexie was jealous of her sister right now…right now she'd give anything for Mark to be more like Derek.

"Yeah I'm in" Lexie called out.

"Lexie you just finished a 36 hour shift" Meredith pointed out in concern. Meredith was the master of procrastination so she knew when someone was trying to avoid a situation.

"Meredith I'm fine" Lexie promised her sister.

"I really think that you need to go home" Meredith suggested, giving Lexie a subtle look telling her to do the right thing.

"I will after this surgery" Lexie stated before making a run to try and catch the elevator Owen was on.

Shaking her head Meredith sighed, she could see that things were only going to get worse for Lexie before it got any better.

************

Looking down Lexie saw the car radio clock flashing 1:12am, the surgery had taken a lot longer then they had first expected and now all she wanted to do was to crawl into bed.

Her entire body ached and her head felt like it was about to explode, Lexie wasn't sure whether it was just because of the 42 hour shift she had just pulled off or whether it was a combination of that and the baby but what she did know was that she could sleep for the next week.

Dragging herself out of the car Lexie noticed the porch light on; looking over the roof of her car she spotted Mark sitting on the top step cradling a beer bottle.

He looked just as bad as he did this afternoon, maybe even worse and Lexie really didn't have the energy to do this right now but she knew that she couldn't avoid this any longer…if she and Mark had any chance at working this out it needed to be done now.

"Hey" Lexie greeted Mark softly, stepping up onto the stairs she sat down beside Mark but made sure that there was a bit of distance between them.

"I thought you finished at 10pm" Mark commented, taking a swig of his beer.

"An emergency came through the E.R. just as I was about to leave and Owen needed a hand" Lexie explained, trying to ignore the gnawing feeling in the pit of her stomach for lying to Mark.

"I think you mean you volunteered to stay back" Mark corrected Lexie, "apparently standing up on your feet for another 6 hours was far more enticing than coming home because then you would have had to talk to me" Mark stated bitterly.

"Mark" Lexie whispered; she didn't know what else to say or how to defend her actions when she knew that Mark had every right to be mad at her.

"Just forget it" Mark answered, chugging down the last of his beer until the bottle was completely empty.

Mark had been driving himself crazy all day, trying to figure out how all of this had gotten so out of control. His mind felt like it was about to explode because it had that many thoughts running through it.

But there were two thoughts that stuck with him the whole way. One that he loved Lexie and two that he was going to be a father…or at least he hoped that was going to be a father.

He had been trying to read between the lines, trying to decipher what Lexie had meant by her last comment. He hated it but his mind kept going back to Addison and there was this fear sitting in the pit of his stomach and he didn't know how to get rid of it.

"Mark we need to talk about this" Lexie tried reasoning with Mark, just seeing the look on his face told Lexie that she had let this go too far.

Standing up Mark scoffed at Lexie, "now you want to _talk_" he repeated sarcastically while pacing back and forth across the front lawn.

"Mark please…"

"Please what Lexie?" Mark growled furiously, "I'm not the one who ran off, I'm not the one who _chose _to stay at the hospital rather than come home and talk to her husband about the fact that she's _pregnant_" Mark exclaimed.

He was so angry that his emotions were getting the best of Mark and that wasn't something he usually let happen. He needed to hit something so he did the next best thing, throwing the beer bottle as far as he could down the street until they both heard the sound of glass breaking.

Lexie jerked at the sound of the glass breaking, she had never seen Mark this mad before and it scared her.

Throwing his hands in the air Mark panted, breaking the beer bottle gave him a fleeting moment of ease but the anger was quickly coming back.

Just the thought of Mark walking away from her and their baby was quickly triggering her panic attack. Lexie hated feeling like this; she hated doubting Mark and his commitment to her.

"Are you planning on keeping it?" Mark asked dejectedly, he was at a complete loss and wasn't sure he even wanted to hear the answer.

Lexie's head shot up with a look of horror on her face, "how can you even be asking me that question?" Lexie asked with indignation.

Rubbing his face Mark groaned in frustration, "it's pretty easy for me to ask that question when you made it pretty clear you didn't even want to think about the fact that this baby exists" Mark answered firmly.

Mark refused to be made to feel guilty for wanting to have a say in what happened to _his _child.

"Are you honestly suggesting that I would, that…?" Lexie was struggling to actually finish the sentence as her eyes began to prickle. "I would do _something_" Lexie emphasised the word because she couldn't bring herself to actually say it, "to my…to _your _child?" Lexie asked defensively.

"It wouldn't be the first time" he spat out venomously, Mark cringed the second the words came out of his mouth.

"I'm not Addison" Lexie interrupted, her defenses quickly building back up.

Mark scoffed at Lexie's statement, he knew that it was the wrong thing to do but right now he had lost complete control of his thoughts, feelings and actions.

"You don't be believe me" Lexie stated as the realisation hit her like a ton of bricks, she never considered the fact that Mark would question _her _commitment to their child.

"I could never even _think _about something like that" Lexie argued.

"Well jeez I'm sorry that my wife's being forced to have a baby she doesn't want" Mark apologised sarcastically, completely miss understanding what Lexie was trying to say.

An awkward silence took over them when they were distracted by the sound of slamming car doors. Looking over his shoulder Mark saw Derek and Meredith making their way up to the house, Derek had a huge smile plastered across his face.

"Why does he look like the cat that swallowed the canary?" Mark asked Meredith with a frown on his face.

Looking back and forth at Mark and Lexie Meredith could see that there conversation was not going well and she was pretty sure that hearing their news was the last thing Mark wanted to hear unfortunately she was slower then Derek.

"We're having a baby?" Derek declared throwing his hands up in excitement, he was bouncing all over the place in excitement that he couldn't sit still.

"Congratulations" Mark smiled at the couple, Derek was too excited to notice that Mark was forcing himself to smile but Meredith spotted it instantly.

The twinge of jealousy hit Lexie again as she watched Derek smile like an idiot, she desperately wanted to know why Mark couldn't be more like Derek. Why couldn't he just be happy about the fact that they were having a baby and not question whether she even wanted the baby?

"Congratulations you guys" Lexie repeated softly, her smile a bit more genuine then Mark's was.

"We need to celebrate" Derek declared, clapping his hands and rubbing them together.

Meredith opened her mouth to protest but Lexie beat her to it, "sorry guys but I have an early start in the morning so I'm gonna go straight to bed" Lexie announced.

"Hey Lexie you better get used to being called _aunt Lexie_" Derek called out to her just as she opened the front door.

Looking over her shoulder Lexie smiled awkwardly at Derek while absent-mindedly rubbing her stomach in circles, something that both Mark and Meredith noticed.

"You better get used to being called dad" Lexie joked back, walking into the house she made sure not to look at Mark.

************

After congratulating Derek some more and having a beer together Mark made his way upstairs to Lexie, standing in front of the closed door Mark hesitated in entering the room.

He didn't want to get into another fight with Lexie, he wanted what Derek had…he wanted to be able to enjoy the fact that he was going to be dad, that Lexie was pregnant with _his _baby.

Mark realised that the only way he was going to be able to do that was if he stopped pushing Lexie, but he wasn't sure what Lexie wanted and he hated that.

So Mark decided to sleep on it instead and quietly snuck into the room and despite the darkness of the room he could tell that Lexie was asleep.

Too exhausted to move or to do anything else he quickly shrugged off his leather jacket while kicking off his boots before crawling into bed with his clothes still on. The moment Mark's body hit the bed he could feel the distance between the two of them and he hated it.

Hesitantly Mark inched closer towards Lexie and wrapped his arm around her waist, his hand resting on her abdomen. Once Mark was sure that Lexie wasn't going to pull away he pulled her closer before burying his face into the nook of her neck and softly kissed her.

"I'm not Addison" Lexie whispered with a shaky voice, her defensiveness was beginning to slip away as she realised why Mark had asked the question in the first place.

Mark stopped what he was doing and reluctantly pulled his lips away from the side of Lexie's neck, "that's not what I was trying to say" he argued.

"It's exactly what you meant Mark" Lexie pointed out, "but despite what you think I want this baby" Lexie stated placing her hand on top of Mark's and squeezing it tightly. "I mean yeah the timing sucks but it's _our_ baby, mine and yours" Lexie commented softly while quickly wiping away a tear.

Resting his forehead against Lexie's shoulder Mark shook his head, "I don't want you having this baby because you feel obligated to do it Lexie. I want you to have this baby because you _want _this baby not because you're afraid of losing me if you don't…"

"That's not what…" Lexie began to argue but Mark cut her off.

"I was that kid Lex, I was the kid that his parent's never wanted…the kid that was a mistake and trust me, my parents never forgot to remind of that" Mark retold sadly. "And I don't want our baby growing up to feel like their mother resents them or me for that matter, I love you Lexie and I don't want to lose you…" Mark trailed struggling to say the next few words because they'd be the hardest thing he would ever have to say.

"But" Lexie asked.

"No but" Mark reassured her, "if you're not ready for this baby then you're not ready and that's ok. Besides there will always be other babies" Mark reasoned, forcing himself to smile even though he knew that Lexie couldn't see him.

Stretching her arm out Lexie turned the bedside light on before sitting up; she couldn't believe what Mark was offering…the stab guilt was stronger than anything Lexie had ever felt before.

"Lexie" Mark called out softly, the moment Lexie had turned the light on he could see that she had been crying from her red puffy eyes.

Dropping her head in shame Lexie refused to look up, it was going to take some time before the guilt over doubting Mark's commitment would stop eating away at Lexie.

"Lexie talk to me please?" Mark begged, brushing Lexie's hair away from the side of her face so he could see her.

"Mark what do you want, I mean what do you really want…do you want this baby?" Lexie asked finally looking Mark in the eyes.

"Does what I want really even matter?" Mark answered Lexie's question with a question.

"No" Lexie answered bluntly, placing her left hand protectively over her stomach.

Swallowing the knot in his throat Mark tried to ignore the feeling in the pit of his stomach like he had just been kicked in the gut.

"Because I already made the decision that I'm having this baby with or without you. That if you made me choose between you and the baby there wouldn't be any competition Mark…the baby wins, the baby will _always _win" Lexie explained with a level of conviction she had never had before.

"Mark I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you, with our family but I'm not going to sit here and tell you that I can't do this without. I can do this without you, I just don't want to" Lexie declared.

Mark felt all the tension and all the doubt melt away as he listened to Lexie tell him that she would always put their child ahead of him. In the end that's all Mark really wanted to hear, to hear that Lexie wanted this baby just as much as he did.

Gently grabbing Lexie by the arms Mark pulled her down on top of him, "why couldn't you just tell me that in the first place rather than letting me think that you didn't want this?" Mark asked seriously.

Leaning down Lexie gave Mark a chaste kiss, "because I got scared that it wasn't what you wanted…that you wouldn't be ready for this and I absolutely hate myself for doubting you for a single second".

Seizing her mouth in a vicious kiss Mark flipped them over, "see what happens when you women go assuming things, thinking that you're a little miss know-it-all" Mark teased with a seductive grin.

Trying to hide her smile Lexie shook her head, "I thought you knew by now that the Grey sisters live for drama" Lexie teased while running her fingers through the back of Mark's hair.

Gently lowering himself down on top of Lexie, because he was afraid of squashing her, Mark rested his forehead against her. "God help Derek and I…nine months of Grey filled drama" Mark joked as the realisation that both their wives were pregnant hit him.

"You mean god help me and Mer" Lexie corrected Mark, swatting him across his arm. "We're the ones who have to carry the M&M's" Lexie pointed out, she couldn't believe she was actually using Cristina's reference.

Mark furrowed his brow, "did you just refer to my baby as a piece of chocolate?" Mark asked with a disturbed look on his face.

Lexie giggled at the look on Mark's face, "blame Cristina, she's the one who came up with the code…"

"_Code"_ Mark repeated sceptically because he wasn't sure he actually wanted to hear this.

"Well Mer and I didn't exactly want the whole hospital knowing that we're pregnant so Cristina came up with the code M&M…McDreamy and mini, McSteamy and mini" Lexie explained.

Shaking his Mark claimed her mouth before she could continued, he decided that he didn't want to be talking about Cristina anymore. Mark kissed her like he could go on doing it forever quite happily, it was long and still and neither of them moved.

Reluctantly pulling away Mark gently stroked her face, "hey Lexie guess what" Mark whispered with a smile.

"What?" Lexie asked playing along with a matching smile.

"I'm going to be a dad" Mark declared proudly, he couldn't wait to tell Derek the news and anyone else who would listen. Mark was planning on enjoying the next nine months and to be grateful for everything that Lexie had given him.

Tighten her grip around Mark's neck Lexie kissed him quickly, "you sure it's yours?" Lexie asked with a teasing smile.

"Oh you're so going to pay for that" Mark warned, his fingers making their way down to Lexie's sides before quickly tickling her.

Laughing hysterically Lexie rolled around trying to free herself from Mark's grasp, pleading for him to stop.

************

**Ok I'm really being bad now because I'm supposed to be doing school work not writing this. Yet my work seems to be my source of inspiration…or maybe it's procrastination, but anyway reviews welcomed because I would love to hear what you all think.**


	16. Chapter 16

************

**Chapter 16**

"Do you know what the hell this is about?" Mark questioned Derek the second he walked through the door.

"No idea" Derek answered him with a worried look on his face to match Mark's.

They had both been summoned to the Chief's office immediately after they had finished their respective surgeries and neither of them knew why and that had both of them worried.

Mark had been paged into the hospital before the crack of dawn and had been in back to back surgeries so he still hadn't gotten around to telling Derek the good news.

Lexie had sworn to him that she wouldn't say a word to anybody else until Mark told Derek, she knew how much it meant to Mark for him to be the one to tell Derek rather than the hospital rumour mill.

"So I have something to tell you" Mark warned Derek, leaning against one of Richard's filing cabinets rather than sitting down.

"Do I need to brace myself?" Derek asked with a teasing smile on his face, there was something different about Mark and he recognised it the second his best friend had walked through the door.

"Lexie and I…" Mark began to say when he was interrupted by the sound of the Chief's voice.

"Good you're both here" the Chief acknowledge them, "Sloan take a seat" Richard ordered.

"I'm good standing" Mark declined, after long hours of surgery he had a thing about standing.

Sighing at Mark's stubbornness Richard slammed the file he was holding down onto the table before sinking into his chair.

Looking at Mark with a raised eyebrow Derek was hesitant in asking why they had been called in to Richard's office but someone had to ask the question.

"Chief did you need to see us about something?" Derek questioned cautiously.

"No Shepherd I didn't need to see either of you for anything, I just thought that it would be a nice idea for us to have a little heart to heart while my hospital is falling apart" Richard snapped sarcastically.

"The hospital's falling part" Derek repeated questioningly at Mark while trying not to laugh at the Chief's overreacting.

Mark shrugged his shoulders, "the hospital's falling apart" he repeated with a little more mocking then Derek.

"Can you two _ever_ take anything seriously, why does everything have to be a joke?" the Chief snapped, quickly running out of patience.

Standing up straight Mark crossed his arms and gave the Chief a glaring look, his jaw clenched tightly.

"When I have a patient lying on the O.R. table I take that seriously, when my patient codes I take that seriously….when my _wife _needs me I take that seriously, but I am _not _going to take your little spat here seriously because I wasn't hired to be your personal punching bag" Mark ranted.

"Mark" Derek warned him, the last thing Mark needed was to be fired for pissing off the Chief.

"They want me out" the Chief exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air.

"Who wants you out?" Mark asked, quickly calming down at hearing the Chief's announcement.

"The board…Jennings, they want me gone" Richard repeated, only this time calmer.

"Richard you know this how exactly?" Derek questioned the Chief sceptically.

The Chief sighed, he knew that Mark and Derek wouldn't believe him at first…that they'd think he was paranoid.

"Derek this is _my _hospital, I have eyes and ear _everywhere_" the Chief reminded the both of them with the usual _I'm the Chief so don't question me_ look.

"Why would Jennings want you gone?" Mark asked doubtfully.

Derek and Mark's scepticism in the Chief's word was beginning to eat away at whatever patience he did have left, he had hoped that at the most his two leading surgeons would have faith in him.

"Maybe it's because I have Interns and Residents running around this hospital like they own the damn place but don't know a thing about being a surgeon…or maybe it has something to do with the fact that my Attendings are more concerned with luring Residents into their bed then they are about teaching them" the Chief exclaimed furiously.

"Richard" Derek warned the man with a clenched jaw.

He could see that the Chief was angry but that still didn't give him the right to accuse Mark and him of putting their personal lives above the well being of their patients.

Rubbing his face Mark groaned in frustration; today had started out to be such a good day and yet it was quickly spiralling into a bad one. He had to keep reminding himself about the baby and about telling Derek because it was the only thing keeping his spirits up.

"So why haven't they attacked yet, what are they waiting for?" Mark asked, deciding that things might go smoother if he tried to show the Chief some support.

"Because they're fighting over the two of you" the Chief answered bluntly.

"_Us_" Mark repeated, disbelievingly pointing at himself.

"The board's split on which one of you can handle the pressure of being Chief, they all agree that surgically you're both the best but…"

"Pencil pushing is a different story" Mark finished off for the Chief.

"Why are you telling us this Richard?" Derek asked, he could see the wheels turning in the Chief's head.

"Yeah Derek's right, it's not like we have any pull over the board" Mark pointed out.

He was beginning to see what Derek was seeing.

"Because I need to know that the two of you have my back on this…"

"You mean you want our word that neither of us is going to steal your job out from under you" Mark corrected the Chief with a mocking smile.

"Fine yes" the Chief conceited annoyingly.

"Richard if the board wants you out that badly it's not going to matter if we both reject the offer, they'll just bring somebody else in" Derek pointed out logically.

"I know that" Richard agreed through gritted teeth, "but at least knowing that neither of you are taking the job buys me a bit of time".

"Are we done here because I have a surgery in 15 minutes" Mark asked nonchalantly.

As far as he was concerned the conversation was over…the conversation never even began. Two years ago Mark would have jumped at the chance to be Chief and he would have done anything to get it, but now it was a whole different story.

"Dr. Sloan we need to discuss this…" the Chief began to protest but quietened down when Mark began to shake his head.

"Richard there's nothing to discuss, as far as I'm concerned the jobs all yours" Mark declared before leaving the room.

It wasn't often that Derek was at a loss for words but this was definitely one of those times. He had been certain that Mark would jump at the chance and the fact that he didn't worried Derek.

"Uh I'll talk to you later" Derek told the Chief as he quickly ran after Mark. As far as Derek was concerned figuring out what was going on with Mark was more important than trying to alleviate the Chief's fears.

"Mark" Derek called out, jogging up to the elevator to catch it on time. "Didn't you hear me calling?" he questioned Mark, having squeezed through the doors just as they were about to close.

"Sorry" Mark apologised, walking backwards he leant his head against the wall with his eyes closed.

"Were you serious back there, do you really _not _want the job?" Derek asked his best friend bluntly.

"Yep" Mark answered without any hesitation, he didn't need to open his eyes to know that Derek was looking at him sceptically.

Derek studied Mark's demeanour dubiously, a Mark Sloan who was calm and at ease just didn't sit right with him and Derek could tell that something was going on.

"Did you break into the hospital's morphine supply last night?" Derek asked seriously, he was starting to get freaked out.

Mark chuckled at Derek's question, he knew that Derek would look at him like he had gone insane the second he had declined the offer but Mark knew it was the right thing to do.

Mark didn't need time to think about it or to discuss it with Lexie, at the end of the day he wasn't interested in becoming the new Richard Webber. Mark wanted to focus on his family and he knew that he couldn't be a good dad _and _the Chief of surgery…something would have to give and he wasn't about to sacrifice his child.

"I refuse to become my father" Mark declared seriously, opening his eyes to look Derek in the face.

Derek frowned finding Mark's comment unusual, "what does your dad have to do with you becoming Chief?".

"He always put his career ahead of me, if he ever had to choose between me and work…well there really wasn't a choice to be made, it was _always _work" Mark recollected.

"Mark" Derek said his name sceptically; he really didn't understand where the man was going with this.

"You've seen what being Chief has done to Richard's life…to his marriage, and I refuse to put my family through all of that" Mark rationalised his decision for turning the job down.

"Your _family_" Derek repeated dubiously.

Mark blew out into a full blown smile knowing that now was as good a time as any to tell Derek about the baby.

"Yeah my family" Mark repeated mischievously. "I don't want to be the kind of guy whose kid only gets to spend two hours out of a whole week with his dad" Mark declared, trying really hard not to smile.

"Kid…Mark is Lexie…are you two…" Derek struggled to actually wrap his head around this piece of information let alone form a coherent sentence.

They were interrupted by sound of the elevator door opening, looking over his shoulder Derek saw one of Lexie's fellow Residents about to step on to the elevator.

"This elevator's taken use the stairs" Derek ordered the Resident with a scowl.

"But Dr. Shep…I have to…" the Resident stuttered.

"I said take the stairs" Derek repeated sternly before closing the elevator doors on the young man.

Shaking his head at Derek's behaviour Mark chuckled but stopped the minute Derek pressed the emergency stop button.

"What is with you and elevators?" Mark asked teasingly.

"Don't joke Mark, you do _not_ get to joke with me because this far too important for you to be joking" Derek asserted.

"Who's joking?" Mark asked throwing his hands up in the air.

"Is Lexie pregnant?" Derek asked bluntly.

With a beaming smile Mark nodded his head proudly, "she told me yesterday".

Derek was completely dumbfounded and didn't know what else to say, the last thing he would have thought was that Lexie was pregnant.

Walking over to Mark Derek gave him a big hug and congratulated him; he couldn't describe how happy he was that Mark's life was finally falling into place for the man.

"You just have to do everything I do don't you" Derek teased with a huge smile.

"Who's to say that you're not the one who copied me, your wife said it herself…me and Lexie do have a lot of sex" Mark joked back with one of his charming smiles.

Shaking his head at Mark's childishness Derek leant against the elevator wall while his head tried to process everything. "Are we sure the world's up for this?" he asked playfully.

"Is the world up for what?"

"For _two _pregnant Grey's" Derek answered frankly while trying not to smile.

"Well it really doesn't have a choice does it" Mark pointed out.

"Are you sure about this?" Derek asked seriously, he needed to be sure that Mark knew what he was doing.

"You mean about the baby?" Mark asked with a frown, the hurt of his best friend doubting him was beginning to set in.

"No not about the baby" Derek tried to correct Mark, "about being Chief".

"Absolutely" Mark answered confidently, "I don't want to be spending the next 20 years of my kid's life making sure that all the I's are dotted and T's are crossed on hospital paperwork…I'm happy with doing my surgeries and then at the end of the day going home".

"You know you could dot all the I's, cross all the T's _and_ still get home in time for dinner" Derek pointed out encouragingly.

Mark shook his head, "maybe I could but being Chief isn't a 9-5 job, when I go home I don't want to be there just physically while mentally I'm still at the hospital" he explained.

Mark studied Derek's face; he had known the man long enough to know when something was bothering him.

"Why are you pushing so hard for me to take the job Derek?" Mark asked frankly.

Derek chuckled at Mark's inquisitiveness; he never could hide anything from the man. "Because if you say no then Jennings and the board are going to come after me…"

"Derek I'm pretty sure that I'd be their second choice, their backup in case you say no. You have my blessing Derek, if you want the job take it….you'll make an amazing Chief" Mark encouraged Derek.

"You know you're not the only one having a baby" Derek pointed out with a smile, "I was hoping that you'd take the job so then they wouldn't come knocking on my door".

"You don't want the job", it was a statement _not_ a question.

"I don't want the job" Derek confirmed Mark's statement, "so what does that mean?"

"It means that baby trumps Chief" Mark told Derek.

"Baby trumps Chief" Derek repeated, the more he said it the more right it sounded. "But what about the girls, I mean do you really think either of them are going to be happy when they find out we gave up Chief for them" he asked worriedly.

"You can do whatever you want Derek, me, I'm not breathing a word of this to Lexie. I know my wife and the last thing she or the baby need is for Lexie to make herself sick with guilt" Mark explained to Derek.

"You're going to lie to her" Derek corrected him.

Mark shook his head, "it's no lying Derek, lying would be if she came right out and asked me if I had been offered Chief and I said no. I'm just choosing not to _mention_ our little conversation with the Chief" he defended.

"Uh huh, I think the legal term you're looking for is lying by omission and do you really think that you're going to be able to keep that a secret here, in this hospital…in _Seattle Grace_" Derek commented sceptically while looking at Mark like he was crazy.

"The only people who know about this are you, me, the Chief and the board…which none of us are going to say anything so the secrets safe" Mark explained confidently.

Stretching out Mark started the elevator back up again; he didn't need to keep analysing it over and over again. Mark knew what he wanted and he knew that it was the right thing.

************

"Dr. Sloan you ok over there" Owen asked Lexie while focusing on the patient that he had on the operating table.

Trying to control the nauseousness that completely took over Lexie she wordlessly nodded her head. Lexie was grateful for the surgical mask covering her face because she was sure it was the only thing stopping her from throwing up.

"I just…" Lexie tried to get out but suddenly the room began to spin and she wasn't so sure that she could hold it in anymore, "excuse me" Lexie murmured before quickly running out of the O.R.

Leaning against the wall Lexie frantically tired to untie her surgical mask; it felt like she couldn't breathe with the thing on. Having finally managed to free herself of it Lexie sighed in relief, suddenly she didn't feel as nauseous as she did while watching Owen slice into their patient.

"I'm going to kill Mark Sloan" Lexie growled loudly in the empty corridor, she couldn't believe it. She was a surgeon…a surgeon whose baby couldn't seem to stand the smell of blood.

Lexie knew that it was crazy because blood didn't really smell like anything, but until stepping foot inside that O.R. she had been perfectly fine. And it hadn't been the first time today that she had been in an O.R. and suddenly felt sick.

"You too" Meredith sighed in frustration as she made her way over to Lexie, throwing her surgical mask back and forth in her hands.

Lexie silently nodded her head as she tried to pull herself together. While the need to vomit had gone the problem of the room spinning hadn't.

"I'm supposed to be a kick ass surgeon, not a surgeon that's forced to run out of the room because the smell of blood makes me want to puke" Meredith exclaimed in frustration.

"Mer you do know that…"

"Yes I know that blood doesn't actually smell" Meredith snapped irately at Lexie.

It wasn't fair to be snapping at Lexie and Meredith knew that but since Derek wasn't here to cop the tongue lashing Lexie was her only choice.

Meredith had been able to hold out for a solid three hours in Bailey's surgery before she couldn't take the smell any longer.

"Grey" Dr. Bailey barked out, making her way over to Meredith and Lexie. "If you _ever_ walk _out _on my surgery again…" Dr. Bailey trailed.

"Is there a problem Dr. Bailey?" Lexie asked cautiously, while she didn't want to step on any toes she was going to defend Meredith if she could.

"Nobody's talking to you Sloan" Dr. Bailey warned her with a threatening glare. She didn't notice Lexie rolling her eyes at the reference to Sloan.

"Dr. Sloan do you mind explaining to me what the hell just happened in my O.R.?" Owen asked; storming out of the surgery that he was forced to finish on his own.

"Did she just walk out of your O.R.?" Dr. Bailey asked suspiciously, looking back and forth between Lexie and Meredith.

Her mind was working over time adding two and two together and Dr. Bailey kept getting the answer six.

"Uhh Dr. Hunt why don't you go take care of your patient and I'll deal with Dr. Sloan" Dr. Bailey ordered Owen; quickly pushing him away so that he'd understand her message loud and clear.

"It's Dr. _Grey-Sloan_" Lexie corrected Dr. Bailey with an innocent smile.

"That cutesy thing might work with your husband but it ain't going to work on me Sloan so you can cut it out now" Dr. Bailey warned Lexie with a scowl.

Lexie decided that the best thing to do was to keep quiet and say nothing.

"You know I knew that your husbands like to do things together but this is just ridiculous" Dr. Bailey, shaking her head in disbelief.

"What did they do now" Lexie sighed in disappointment, trying to throw Bailey off.

She was praying like hell that Mark hadn't gone and done something stupid like tell everyone about the baby because she wasn't comfortable with everyone knowing just yet.

"You two…them two" Dr. Bailey stuttered, she couldn't believe that the Grey sisters really thought she was that dumb.

"Are you alright Dr. Bailey?" Meredith asked, going along with Lexie's approach of ignorance.

"Do I look like an _idiot_?" Dr. Bailey questioned the two of them, "do I look like someone you can pull the wool over their eyes?"

"No" Meredith and Lexie answered together nervously.

"Then explain to me how the hell this hospital is going to function with _two _of its Residents out of action…do those stupid husbands of yours even bother to use their _head_?" Dr. Bailey questioned disbelievingly.

"Dr. Bailey…" Meredith began to protest but stoped out of fear of Bailey's glaring look.

"I've been there...I've _done_ what you two are doing right now so don't try and make me out to be an idiot" Dr. Bailey warned them.

Sighing in defeat Lexie shook her head, "how did you figure it out?"

"Because I smelt a rat" Dr. Bailey answered, "and it didn't help that the _both_ of you ran out of your surgeries at the exact same time".

"Blame Derek and Mark" Meredith muttered loud enough for Bailey to hear her.

"Hasn't either of them heard the saying one at a time?" Dr. Bailey questioned the two ladies as she walked away, "one at a time people…one at a time" she exclaimed over her shoulder.

"Well that wasn't so bad" Lexie commented with a nervous smile.

"Lexie were you even here just a second go, Bailey's mad at us and it won't be long before the Chief finds out and then he's going to go all mommy tracking on us…not to mention Derek who's going to follow me around for the next nine months like a little lost puppy" Meredith began rambling, working herself up into a panic.

"Meredith you need to snap out of it" Lexie ordered, shaking her sister by the shoulders.

Taking a deep breath Meredith looked at Lexie firmly, "little lost puppy" she repeated.

"Mer…" Lexie trailed with a giggle, she knew that Derek could be overprotective sometimes but she really didn't think that it was any reason for her sister to get worked up about it.

"Just remember Lexie little lost puppy" Meredith warned her before deciding that she had some serious sucking up to do where Bailey was concerned.

Shaking her head at Meredith's dramatics Lexie walked off in the opposite direction of her sister, determined to track down her husband and drag him home whether he was willing or not.

************

"What about Alistair?" Lexie questioned Mark as he walked back into the bedroom waring nothing but a pair of sweat pants.

Screwing his nose up in disgust Mark shook his head as he concentrated on trying to find a shirt in the ton of boxes still stacked around the room.

They had agreed to move into their house on the weekend, not that it was something Meredith was thrilled about when they had made the announcement.

"Fine" Lexie sighed as she thought about all her other options, "then maybe Charlie" she suggested with a sweet smile.

Mark shook his head again while his hands rummaged through a box of his clothes.

"What's wrong with Charlie?" Lexie asked abruptly, she really didn't think that Mark was going to be this difficult about it.

"It was the name of Derek's frog I tried to cook" Mark answered flatly, finally finding the shirt he had been looking for he smiled triumphantly.

"First of all I have no idea why two grown men have such an obsession with a stupid frog and secondly I doubt that you'll put our baby in a microwave" Lexie commented sarcastically.

Narrowing his eyes at Lexie Mark pointed towards her, "oh you mock now, but just you wait until you have no other option then to leave me and the baby all alone" Mark teased…nearly.

While in the last 24 hours Mark had managed to wrap his head around the fact that Lexie was pregnant it still didn't alleviate his fear that maybe Addison was right…that somehow he'd be just as terrible of a father as his was.

Seeing Mark's joke for what it really was Lexie giggled at her husband and his insane ideas, "Derek's sisters trusted you with their children" she pointed out, hoping that she could nip the problem in the bud _before_ the baby was born.

"There was adult supervision" Mark argued seriously.

Trying hard not to laugh at him Lexie pointed up and down the length of Mark's body, "and what are you exactly?" she asked curiously.

Mark shrugged his shoulders, "well if we go with Carolyn's opinion then really deep down I'm just a horny 15 year old little boy" he answered sarcastically.

Now scrunching her nose up in disgust Lexie shook her head profusely, "can we not go with that one because then I'd be breaking a few serious federal laws" Lexie teased.

She knew that sometimes the age difference between the two of them irked Mark eve though Lexie didn't understand why.

"Can I ask you something seriously?" Mark asked with a grave look on his face.

"You mean this isn't a serious conversation" Lexie asked jokingly, pointing back and forth between the two of them.

"Ha, ha, ha, you're real funny" Mark laughed sarcastically; he knew that if Lexie looked close enough she'd see him pouting.

"Ok shoot" Lexie told Mark seriously, hoping he'd understand that she was all ears.

"Why are we even having this conversation" Mark questioned her, "I mean I love the fact that you want to talk about baby names. But isn't it common practice to wait for the second trimester?"

"Ok we can wait" she conceded, "if you don't mind Cristina calling your baby M&M or little Sloan" Lexie commented, patting her stomach gently.

"No" Mark answered flatly, pulling his head through his t-shirt. He could have sworn he heard Lexie whimper when the shirt covered up the rest of his body.

"Well Cristina made it pretty clear that she'd only stop if we picked a name" Lexie explained with a smug grin. "So how what do you think of Alan" Lexie suggested.

"What has this baby ever done to you…why are you so determined to make sure that our child gets picked on?"

Sighing in defeat Lexie shook her head, "Mark our baby is not going to get picked on because his name is Alan".

Mark scoffed at Lexie's naivety, "kids can be cruel Lexie".

"I give up" Lexie declared, throwing her hands up in the air.

Mark chuckled at Lexie's reaction; he loved how adorable she looked whenever she got worked up over something.

"You've been trying to pick out a name since we got home" Mark pointed out, it suddenly dawned on him that his wife had only been mentioning male names.

"Lexie is there a reason that you haven't suggested any names for a girl?" Mark asked her casually.

"Don't need to" Lexie answered bluntly.

Mark screwed his face up in confusion, "I'm sorry is there something you know that I don't?"

"No".

"Then why would we _not_ need to consider the option of girl names?" Mark asked hesitantly.

Lexie sighed, she knew that she wasn't going to be able to keep it from Mark for too long and that he'd probably think she was crazy but Lexie couldn't see the harm in telling him the truth.

"Because we're not having a girl" Lexie answered frankly.

"We're not" Mark repeated sceptically.

"Nope"

"And you know this how exactly?" he asked hesitantly because the last thing Mark wanted to do was to upset Lexie.

Rolling her eyes Lexie crawled over to Mark, sitting up on her knees she linked her arms around his neck.

"Because I just do" she answered smugly, leaning forward Lexie kissed him gently on the lips.

Tilting his head back Mark looked at Lexie sceptically, "you're not seriously going to try and sell me that mother's intuition crap are you?" he questioned her.

Shaking her head Lexie smirked at Mark's frankness; it was one of the things she loved the most about him.

"Well you'll have to argue my mother on that one" Lexie commented with a cheeky smile.

"Uh Lex your mom is dead" Mark pointed out with a furrowed brow, now he was beginning to get worried about her.

"I know that" Lexie reassured him, "all I meant was that you can mock me all you want but I know for a fact that this baby is a boy. My mother was adamant throughout both her pregnancies that Molly and I were going to be girls and she wasn't wrong" Lexie pointed out with a fond smile.

Lexie drifted off into her own little world, thinking about her mom made her miss Susan all that much more. Especially now since she was going to have a baby of her own, it didn't help that neither her dad nor Molly were a part of it.

"Lex" Mark called out softly, with his arms wrapped around her waist he shook Lexie gently to try and get her attention.

"Sorry I just drifted of there for a sec" she apologised with an exhausted smile, she hadn't realised how tired she really was.

"Lex it is ok for you to miss your mom" Mark tried to reassure her, but he could see that Lexie didn't want to talk about Susan.

"I know" Lexie answered casually, "but back to what we were talking about…" Lexie trailed.

Mark studied Lexie's face sceptically for a few seconds because he wasn't sure that dropping the subject of Susan was the best thing to do. But he could see that Lexie didn't want to talk about it anymore, and if Mark knew one thing it was that pushing people into doing something they didn't want to do never helps.

"Uh yes something about our son" Mark answered teasingly while trying to push aside the sense of pride he felt in just saying those words.

"Well I've come to an executive decision…"

"Oh you have" Mark commented hesitantly, the cheeky smile on his wife's face told him that it wasn't going to be good….at least for him.

Tightening her grip around Mark's neck Lexie pulled him in closer, "since I'm the one who has to carry this baby for the next 9 months, and whose body has to morph into this alien thing…" Lexie paused for affect, "I think it's only fair that you be the one to pick his name" she declared.

"What?" Mark asked, he suddenly felt like he was about to throw up.

Lexie giggled at the horrified look on Mark's face, "hey since I'm doing all the work it's only fair that you pick the name…you have to contribute something to this".

"I contributed" Mark argued, "I made my deposit now my job is to just sit back and wait for the next 9 months to pass by".

Lexie tilted her head back with an annoyed look, "so what you think that 2 minutes of work exonerates you from having to do anything for the next 9 months?" she questioned Mark.

Pushing him away Lexie climbed off of the bed, pacing up and down the room.

"It was more than 2 minutes" Mark protested as he watched Lexie's every move.

Lexie froze mid step giving Mark a glaring look, she couldn't believe that he was dumb enough to make a comment about that.

"Seriously….seriously you want to debate the length of time it took you to do this" Lexie asked placing her hand over her stomach, "right now when we're debating our baby's name?"

Mark shrugged his shoulders, "well when you're going to throw numbers in my face the least you could do is get them right" he mumbled loud enough for Lexie to hear.

With a disturbed look on her face Lexie shook her head, "you…uh..." she struggled to say. She could see what Mark was trying to do but Lexie couldn't wrap her head around the stupidity of his words.

"What is this really about?" she asked frankly.

"This is a kid's name we're talking about here" Mark relented, "a name he's going to have for his entire _life_ and you want me to pick it".

"Mark do you want this baby to be healthy?" she questioned him. Lexie realised that she could talk until she was blue in the face but Mark would never really believe anything she said.

So instead Lexie needed to resort to her last option, it was the only option she knew that was guaranteed to work.

"Of course I do" Mark growled, he couldn't believe that Lexie was actually asking him that.

With a soft smile on her face Lexie sat down on the bed beside Mark and took ahold of his hand.

"Then you need to stop freaking out on me or doubting yourself" Lexie ordered squeezing his hand, "because I need to focus on this baby and make sure that I am calm and relaxed for the next nine months to make sure that nothing happens to this baby. And I can't do that if I have to worry about you all the time because you're letting these crazy ideas fester in your head" Lexie explained, tapping Mark on his temple.

"That's emotional blackmail" Mark pointed out with a playful glare, deep down he knew that Lexie was right.

"I'm glad you recognise that" Lexie applauded him; leaning over she kissed Mark softly before pulling away. "Now while I worry about making sure that I'm relaxed you have to pick a name…one that goes with Mark Sloan" she corrected herself.

"Wait, what?" Mark asked, pulling Lexie back down onto the bed.

"What?" Lexie asked, pretending not to have heard Mark.

"Why does the name I pick have to go with my name?"

"Because Sloan's his last name" Lexie explained holding her right hand out, "and Mark's his middle name" she finished off holding out her left hand.

"Wha…no" Mark boomed commandingly, "our son is not going to have my name" he argued.

Lexie rolled her eyes at Mark's behaviour, "you must be the _only _man on this planet who wouldn't want his son to have his name…too bad you're not getting what you want".

"Lexie" Mark warned her just as she was about to speak he held a finger up, "and don't even think about using that whole I'm carrying this baby so I get what I want trick".

Leaning over to Mark Lexie wrapped an arm around his neck, "please" she pouted.

"No" Mark answered bluntly, trying to ignore the goosebumps running up and down his arms as Lexie played with the hairs on the back on his neck.

"Please" Lexie begged again, pressing a trail of kisses along his jaw line until she reached Mark's ear. "Pretty please with a cherry on top" she whispered before moving her lips down to the side of Mark's neck, her hand tugging on the hem of his shirt.

"Ok you win" Mark conceded, quickly losing control he tilted Lexie's head up and seized her mouth viciously.

"I win what?" Lexie asked, reluctantly pulling away from Mark she wanted to make sure that they both understood each other.

Without any warning Mark pushed Lexie back onto the bed, gently lying on top of her.

"Yes I will pick the baby's name" Mark agreed, dipping his head down to kiss Lexie she quickly turned her head to the side.

"And…" she trailed; Lexie wasn't going to give in that easily.

"And it will be a name that goes with Mark Sloan" Mark sighed in defeat.

Tightening her grip around his neck Lexie pulled Mark closer, caving in to her demands Mark laid down on top of her.

"I love it when you're so agreeable" Lexie whispered, capturing Mark's lips before he could say anything.

************

**So it might have taken a few days but I finally managed to get this done...and hopefully the others will be done soon to. Two more weeks till holidays, so if I haven't got anything up soon just bare with me.**

**Please review because I love reading your feedback.**


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

"Where the hell is she" Mark grumbled pacing and back and forth, he was eager to finally see his baby so his patience was wearing thin.

"Mark you need to stop doing that because you're making me dizzy" Lexie warned him with a pointed look.

"If you don't like it then stop watching me" he snapped at Lexie and cringed instantly because he realised his mistake. "I'm…."

"Mark you don't have to apologise" Lexie assured him holding her handout, "you're nervous…we're both nervous so we should talk about something else" she suggested.

Taking her hand Mark nodded his head as an idea occurred to him and he gave Lexie one of those _I'm up to no good _smiles.

"No" Lexie exclaimed holding a finger up at him, "I am _not _having sex with you inside this exam room when Dr. Armstrong could walk in here at any second".

"Why do you automatically assume that I was talking about sex?" he asked, trying to pretend like he was offended but it wasn't working.

"Because you're you and I'm married to you" Lexie answered with a playful smile.

"Sex was actually the furthest thing from my mind" he corrected his wife smugly.

"I apologise, so enlighten me Dr. Sloan…what was on your mind?" she asked curiously.

"Well" Mark sighed dramatically as he sat down on the end of the exam table, his fingers immediately moving up and down the side of her calf. "You know how a few weeks ago you told me that I had to pick a name for the baby…" he trailed waiting for Lexie to nod her head and she did. "Well I've been thinking about names…"

"And" Lexie pushed impatiently, she couldn't wait to hear what ideas he had had come up with.

"Just remember that you said it was _my _decision" he reminded her seriously, "because I've got it narrowed down to two names" Mark declared with a proud smile.

"Yeah, yeah, spit it out already" she snapped at him with a playful glare.

"Okay so I've got Nathanael Mark Sloan or Daniel Mark Sloan" he announced eagerly.

Lexie stayed quiet for a minute or two as she thought those names over, instinctively rubbing her stomach in circles. She tried to picture herself using either of those names and to Lexie they both sounded perfect.

Mistaking Lexie's silence to mean something else Mark pulled his hand away, "you hate them" he sighed in disappointment.

"No, no, I don't hate them" Lexie argued, leaning forward to grab Mark's hand. "I love them and now I know for a fact that I made the right decision in trusting you with this" she stated confidently as she squeezed his hand lovingly.

Smiling proudly Mark shook his head, "are you telling me that you questioned my abilities…thought that I'd come up with some funny name like, oh I don't know, Christopher" he teased.

"Hey I wouldn't go making fun of our son's uncle…not unless you're willing to take on Meredith" she threatened him with a playful glare.

"Oh how the mighty have fallen, the great Derek Christopher Shepherd having to be protected by a girl" Mark sighed with a teasing smirk.

Poking him in the thigh with her foot Lexie shook her head, "I said stop" she ordered while trying really hard to hide the smile on her face but she wasn't having much luck.

Holding his hands up in surrender Mark nodded his head, "alright you win, I promise not to make fun of Derek anymore…at least not when we're in front of the children" he said with an innocent smile.

Lexie knew when to pick her battles and she knew that Derek was definitely not one that she was going to win so instead she decided to change the topic.

"There's one problem with your choice in a name for our son" she pointed out bluntly.

"And what's that?" Mark asked with a furrowed brow.

"You haven't actually picked one" she noted with a teasing smile, "I mean as much as I love them both we can't exactly name him Daniel Nathanael Mark Sloan because that would be a mouth full for a five year old".

Mark was about to answer her when at last Dr. Armstrong walked into the room looking frazzled, "sorry I'm late" she apologised.

"Well it's about time" Mark grumbled loud enough for the woman to hear as he hopped off the table.

"Dr. Sloan I apologise but one of my patient's went into premature labour at 22 weeks, it was unavoidable" Dr. Armstrong explained and suddenly Mark felt guilty for cursing the woman's punctuality, he couldn't even begin to imagine what that couple was going through.

"I'm sorry" he apologised sheepishly.

"It's perfectly fine Dr. Sloan" she assured Mark before turning her attention to Lexie. "Well since we've already wasted enough time why don't we get started and take a look at that baby of yours" she suggested before getting everything set up.

Standing beside Lexie Mark held onto her hand tightly as he waited for the ultrasound screen to show them something. His palms were sweaty and his heart was racing, Mark still couldn't believe that he was finally going to see his son.

He chuckled at the thought because even though at first he had doubts about this so called mother's intuition he had stopped questioning Lexie's assertion that it was a boy and decided to have faith in his wife.

Lost in his thoughts about how his mother had never showed him a maternal bone in her body Mark was quickly pulled out of his thoughts by a soft beating sound that was moving rapidly.

"And there is your baby" Dr. Armstrong smiled, pointing to the screen.

"He's so tiny" Mark whispered in awe at his son who was no bigger then the size of a bean, he couldn't believe he had made that…well that he had a hand in making that tiny little M&M as Cristina kept referring to him.

In that second Mark had fallen in love with his son all over again, he knew that he'd do anything to protect him and Lexie…to protect his family. And suddenly Mark began to think about his own parents, like he'd been doing on and off again for the last few weeks and he blamed Lexie for that. Ever since she had told him about the baby all he could do was think about William and Cassandra Sloan.

But as he listened to the sound of his baby heartbeat Mark's mind was working a mile a minute trying to figure it out…constantly wondering what was wrong with him, why couldn't his parents find it within themselves to love him the way that he loved his baby…a baby that wasn't even born yet.

Mark shook his head because right now all he seemed to have was a whole lot of questions but no answers, except for one because all of the sudden he had the answer to Lexie's question.

"Nathanael" he whispered softly.

"What?" Lexie asked, reluctantly pulling away from the screen to look at Mark.

"Nathanael Mark Sloan" he repeated softly before leaning down to capture Lexie's lips in a gentle kiss.

"I love it" Lexie answered with her lips still pressed against Mark's.

"I see we've picked out a name for if it's a boy" Dr. Armstrong noted with a smile, she was happy for them.

Pulling away Mark looked back at the screen and then at Lexie, "there's no ifs, it's definitely boy right Lexie".

Nodding her head Lexie felt her eyes sting as the tears began to build up, seeing the pure joy and love in Mark's eyes for their child was indescribable to her. And as much as she loved their baby and wanted him she wanted this baby even more _for _Mark, because Lexie wanted her husband to know what it feels like to have a real family that loved each other unconditionally.

"Well you might be interested to know that you're about eight weeks along so that makes your due date around October 10th" Dr. Armstrong declared and Lexie beamed at Mark.

"What?" he chuckled questioningly.

"And you didn't want birthday sex" she scoffed teasingly.

Connecting the dots Mark shook his head as he realised why Lexie was smiling about the due date, "I never said…"

"Aren't you glad that I didn't listen" Lexie commented smugly, it made her happy to know that Mark now had one more reason to no longer have to think back to his birthday with dread…instead he could look back at it with fondness, knowing that it was on that day he became a father.

Smiling affectionately at Lexie Mark nodded in agreement while his thoughts wondered back to his parents. It was starting to really annoy him and he knew that he needed to find away to fix it…or at least make it stop.

**************

"Do you ever regret it?" Mark asked Meredith out of nowhere.

He hated the fact that he was even bringing up the topic of his parents but it had been driving him crazy since leaving the doctors office.

Mark didn't like talking about them…he didn't even like _thinking _about them. As far as he was concerned he had no parents, he was adopted into the Shepherd family and Mark preferred it that way.

He had been debating with himself for the last three hours and wasn't any closer to making a decision. The last time he'd spoken to either his mother or father was the day before he left for Columbia Med, and there hadn't been any effort to reach out from either side ever since.

Part of Mark didn't want to give either of them the time of day but the other part argued that he owed it to himself to try and put this to rest…if not for him then for Lexie and their child.

"Excuse me?" Meredith asked with a furrowed brow.

Mark knew that if anyone would be able to understand what he was struggling with it would be Meredith. "Do you ever regret it….do you ever wish that you could have sat down with Ellis and actually _talked_ about the problems in your relationship?"

Meredith had to stop herself from gasping in shock because that had been the last question she was expecting from Mark Sloan. Studying his face she could see that he was serious, if she looked close enough Meredith swore she could even see a hint of vulnerability.

She let out a deflated sigh, talking about Ellis Grey or about the past wasn't something Meredith enjoyed doing…she didn't even talk to Derek about it.

But for some reason Mark was asking and for some even crazier reason Meredith actually wanted to help him out…if not for his sake then for Lexie's.

"My mother and I weren't big on talking, especially about our problems or the Richard thing" Meredith answered truthfully.

"But then she told me that I was extraordinary" Meredith revealed, pushing forward with her story. "And, and for the first time in my entire life there was no bitterness, no resentment and no hatred. She didn't criticise me about the choices I've made, instead…instead she told me that I was anything but ordinary and I didn't realise how much I needed to hear that until she finally said those words".

"But you're past it right…I mean you're whole and healthy and you're not letting Ellis and Thatcher's mistakes run your life" Mark pointed out, wishing that he could be like that.

Meredith giggled at Mark's comment because whole and healthy were two words she would never use to describe herself. "I'm not completely healed, there'll always be scars just like yours but…I've learnt how to put all of that away into a little box. I've learnt to accept what happened and to accept that some wounds just can't be healed. But yeah..." Meredith trailed as she thought back to it all and thought about how much she'd changed and grown since Derek came along.

"I'm not letting it run my life anymore" Meredith declared confidently. "I've put it all inside a tiny little box; the box is sealed shut never to be opened again…not just for my sake but for Derek's too…and our baby".

"And this is all because Ellis called you extraordinary?" Mark asked sceptically.

"We're dark and twisty people Mark, we both got burnt by our parents and we both held on to so much resentment that neither of us stoped to think about how much it would mean to finally get some answers" Meredith argued with a sigh.

She could see that Mark wasn't getting it and she didn't blame him, like she said before…no amount of time can ever heal some wounds.

Mark studied Meredith's face and he could see the calm and peacefulness that had taken over when talking about her parents. Meredith hadn't completely moved on but she was able to make peace with all of it and Mark wanted that.

Taking a step forward Mark quickly and gently kissed Meredith on the cheek, "thank you" he whispered timidly before making a run for it. He knew what he needed to do and he knew exactly what he needed in order to do it.

**************

"Hi" he greeted her with a voice so soft that Mark wasn't even sure she'd heard him.

Looking over her shoulder Lexie smiled at the sight of Mark leaning against the door. "You shouldn't be in here" she argued with a teasing smile, "this is the Resident's locker room".

Pushing himself away from the door Mark shrugged his shoulders, "I'm an Attending who needs a Resident and right now I can't find one, so if anyone asks I'm in here looking for a Resident".

"Are you looking for any Resident or is there one in particular?" Lexie asked before pulling Mark down to sit beside her.

She wrapped her arms around Mark's waist and held onto him tightly, Lexie just wanted to go home and forget that they had lost an 8 year old little boy today.

Holding on to her tightly, Mark gently stroked her hair as he tried to think of the best way to broach the subject. Realising there really wasn't any way to do it Mark sighed in defeat.

"Why don't we get out of here" he suggested.

Pulling back to look him in the eyes Lexie smiled and nodded her head before she started to stand up.

Mark grabbed Lexie's hand and pulled her back down beside him, "I meant out of town" he corrected himself. "Why don't we go to New York for a few days?" he asked nervously.

The second Mark had made up his mind that he was going to New York to confront his parents he knew that he'd need Lexie by side. Part of him needed her there for moral support, and despite everything that's happened in some sick, twisted way Mark still wanted their approval of Lexie…even though he knew they'd never give it to him. Then there was another part of Mark that needed Lexie there to prove them wrong, to prove to them that he was loveable and that despite every scar they had left on him he was able to move on and build a life for himself.

"New York" Lexie repeated hesitantly because she thought she was dreaming.

"Yeah New York" Mark answered eagerly, "You have the next few days off so why not?"

"Because while I might have the next few days off you don't" she argued logically.

Mark waved his hand dismissively, "the surgeries I have booked are electives so they can all be pushed back and if any emergency cases come in then Dr. Houlton can deal with them".

He knew that it would be easier to sell Lexie the idea of going to New York if Mark was just honest with her but he couldn't…Mark couldn't tell her why he really wanted to go New York until they got there. He was affraid that if he told her now Lexie would say no, that she wouldn't want to and this really meant a lot to him.

"Come on; think about it" Mark urged Lexie with an excited smile, "a few days in New York. We can go for a walk in Central Park…not to mention that you'll get to spend some quality time with Mrs. Shepherd" he teased.

Lexie wanted to say yes, she couldn't think of anything more perfect then getting away for a few days to New York and having Mark all to herself but he was hiding something and she needed to know what.

"No" Lexie answered assertively.

"No" Mark repeated with a raised eyebrow, he didn't think that she'd actually say no.

Her shoulders slumped down when Lexie let out a sigh, she didn't mean to hurt him but she could see that her answer felt like a rejection to Mark. "What I mean is no, no I won't go to New York until you tell me the _real_ reason you have this sudden urge to see the bright lights of New York City" Lexie argued.

"Just forget it" Mark grumbled like a little kid. He knew he was being irrational but he really didn't want Lexie to know the truth until he got to New York, Mark just had this nagging feeling that if he told her the truth then Lexie would freak out on him.

"Mark please tell me what's really going on" Lexie pleaded with a pouted lip and doe eyes, she knew that Mark could never say no to that face.

"You're not playing fair" Mark pointed out irritably.

"Is it working?" Lexie asked with a faint smile. She knew it was because Lexie could see that Mark had to force himself no to smile.

"No".

"Ok fine then, I hope you enjoy your trip to New York" Lexie wished him well while standing up. "All I ask is that you think of me and poor little Nate couped up in that gorgeous monstrosity of a house that you bought us while you're enjoying the bright city lights" Lexie sulked teasingly.

Mark quickly wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled Lexie down on to his lap, "little Nate huh" he whispered in her ear with a smile. He loved that Lexie had taken to the name so quickly and he loved it even more that she'd already come up with a nickname for their son.

Lexie closed her eyes so she could try and pull herself together while her body reacted to the feeling of Mark's hot breath brushing across her neck.

"Well I thought that it needed to be kept in the tradition of your little nicknames" she teased him.

"I haven't called you little Grey for quite awhile" he pointed out with a seductive smirk.

"You're trying to change the subject Mark and it's not gonna work, what's really going on?" Lexie asked. Running her fingers through the back of Mark's hair she hoped that it would calm him down and help him relax so he could finally open up to her.

Letting out a sigh of defeat Mark dropped his head down, resting his forehead on her shoulder Mark mumbled the words that Lexie really wanted to hear.

"What did you say?" Lexie asked with a furrowed brow.

"I said I want you to come to New York so you can meet my parents" Mark declared apprehensively.

Her eyes widened in complete shock, the last thing she'd expected was _that_…especially since she knew just how tenuous the Sloan family dynamics was.

"Why?" seemed to be the only word Lexie get out.

"Because…because I…" Mark trailed, this was harder then he thought it would be. He couldn't understand this, Mark was a grown man…a grown man who had no problems admitting to his wife that he was scared yet he couldn't broach the topic of William and Cassandra Sloan.

"Mark…"

"Because I need to know why" Mark exclaimed in frustration, his arms automatically tightening their grip around Lexie's waist. "I need to know what was so wrong with me that my own _parents _couldn't love me and if I'm going to be a good dad then I need to understand that. I need answers, I thought I was fine not having my parents in my life…I convinced myself that it didn't matter but deep down it does matter, and I don't want Nate to pay for it".

"I need to learn how to put all the scars and all the wounds inside a box, I need to learn how to be more like Meredith and in order to do that I need answers and I need _you _there with me" Mark explained. "I know this sounds pathetic…"

"It's not pathetic Mark" Lexie reassured him, gently stroking his cheek with a small smile. "Wanting to understand why your parents couldn't be the people you needed them to be isn't pathetic; it's natural".

"I need my _wife _there for moral support, I need you there to remind me that I have more in my life now then they were ever able to give me and I guess…I guess I need you there to prove them wrong" Mark muttered softly because this was the part he hated the most about this.

"How am I supposed to prove them wrong?" Lexie asked with a furrowed brow.

"Because having you there with me will prove to them once and for all that they were wrong about me, it will prove to them that I am actually _loveable_" Mark whispered hoarsely.

Hearing Mark say those words made Lexie's heart break, she hadn't met his parents but she already hated her child's soon to be grandparents. It was beyond her understanding how a mother and father could make their child feel like he was unlovable.

"God I'm pathetic and a loser" Mark growled in frustration.

Lexie adamantly shook her head, "Mark Sloan you are _not _pathetic or a loser do you understand me", she hadn't realised how the lack of a relationship with his parents had been bothering Mark…he'd done a marvellous job at hiding it.

"What you're feeling is perfectly natural after everything your parents have put you through; besides it means alot to you so we'll go. Because after everything I've made you put up with it's the least I can do…Mark I want to be there for you, I want to prove to you that I will always have your back no matter what" she vowed.

"I know you do" he reassured her with a soft smile.

"Well saying it isn't a enough, I need to prove it" Lexie answered with a goofy grin, leaning forward she captured his lips with her own and kissed him passionately while Mark pulled her closer against his chest.

He deepened the kiss, sweeping his tongue across her lips, seeking entry. With a small sigh of pleasure her mouth parted and her tongue slid across his. Suddenly Mark couldn't even remember his name let alone what they were talking about, he was completely lost and Mark was more than happy to go along.

"We are not having sex inside the hospital" Lexie protested in between kisses.

"It wouldn't be the first time" Mark argued without separating his lips from hers. He felt her smile against his lips as her resolve began to slip away, "besides I don't exactly see you putting up much of a fight".

"I'd try, really I would but I'm only human and your lips a far from human" Lexie shot back. Swinging her leg around so she was straddling Mark's lap Lexie linked her arms around the back of his neck. "What were we talking about?" she asked in a ball of haze.

"You know I'm not quiet sure" Mark mumbled in between kisses, his hands naturally moving around in search of her thighs.

"I think it had something to do with New York" Lexie informed him before her mouth pulled away from his and trailed down his neck until she reached the base of Mark's throat.

His grip tightened around her thighs at the sensation of her lips. Lexie sucked the skin of Mark's neck gently before she released it, running her tongue over the same spot as if to sooth it.

"If I knew talking about my daddy issues was going to get me sex I would have done this a hell of a lot sooner" Mark murmured through a haze of desire.

Lexie reluctantly pulled her lips away from Mark's throat, "this isn't pity sex" she informed him sternly.

Mark couldn't put his finger on it but there was something in her eyes that made it clear Lexie wasn't lying. His lips came crashing down on hers before she could even think to say anything else, so hard was the force of the kiss that Lexie sensed the lust and hurt behind it.

His tongue forced her lips open before stealing another kiss, Mark was usually gentle when it came to Lexie but it was like he had a brain snap and couldn't think of anything else but this. She moved her hips slowly against his, eliciting a groan from him as Mark pried his lips away from Lexie's, his chest heaving with effort as he stared down at her.

"So when do we leave?" Lexie panted.

"Flight's at 10am" Mark answered sheepishly.

"Well then we better get home and pack" she instructed, swinging her leg back around Lexie pulled away from the comfort of Mark's lap and stood up.

Standing up beside Lexie Mark held her jacket open so she could put it on and then took her hand in his, "I don't deserve you" he whispered before kissing her softly on the lips.

Lexie shook her head adamantly, "after everything I've put you through I'm the one who doesn't deserve you…but I'm determined to make it right, to prove to you that I'm sorry".

Not knowing how to respond to that Mark nodded his head and lead Lexie out of the locker room. He'd never had anyone say that to him…it was a whole new experience for Mark to have someone feel like they had to apologise to _him_, not that she had anything to apologise for he thought.

**************

_So sorry that this has taken so long to get updated but I finally did and remember that reviews are really appreciated. _


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